There were marked differences in income between different family types. Married couple families with dependent children were the most likely of the three family types to have a usual gross weekly household income of more than £500, followed by cohabiting couples with dependent children and then lone parent families with dependent children.

• In 2000, 58% of married couple families with dependent children had a gross weekly household income of over £500. This compared with 43% of cohabiting couples with dependent children and 11% of lone-parent families with dependent children.

While the majority of married or cohabiting couples with dependent children had a gross weekly household income over £500, nearly half of lone parent families had incomes of £150 or less. Among lone parent families, 45% had a usual gross weekly household income of £150 or less compared with 10% of married couple families and 15% of cohabiting couple families.

The usual gross weekly household incomes of lone parent families varied according to the marital status and gender of the family head. Although the numbers of lone fathers were relatively small (60), there was a marked difference between their incomes and those of lone mothers.

• Around 41% of lone fathers had a usual gross weekly income over £400, compared with 15% of lone mothers with this level of income.

Single lone mothers were particularly likely to have low incomes:

• 31% of families headed by a single mother had a usual gross weekly income of £100 or less, compared to 11% of divorced lone mother families and 13% of separated lone mother families.