Families headed by a lone parent were less likely to have a child under five than married or cohabiting couple families (35% compared with 41%)*.

The dependent children of lone fathers were more likely to be older than those of lone mothers or married and cohabiting couples:

• in almost three-fifths (59%) of families headed by a lone father the youngest dependent child was aged 10 or over, compared with 31% of lone mother families and 32% of the families of couples;
• in 18% of families headed by a lone father the youngest child was under five, compared with 36% of families headed by lone mothers, and 41% of two-parent families.

*This finding is based on aggregated data from 2000 and 2001 to improve statistical reliability.