One-parent families in the UK

Briefing.

From CFNews: Anastasia de Waal, from the think-tank Civitas, said: 'Poverty is really concentrated in single-parent families, where there is only one income. What this Government is not doing is looking at ways of tackling the problem of single-parent families.

'This is critical if they want to address child poverty. It is very significant when there is a growing number of children growing up with one parent.'

Jane Robey, the chief executive of National Family Mediation, added: 'Children need both parents. We have seen a huge rise in the number of single-parent families since we started in 1982. Our case load has gone up from 5,000 in 1999 to 15,000 in 2006.'

The ONS report also discloses that the number of men and women aged between 25 and 44 living alone doubled between 1986 and 2006, while the proportion of men over 75 living alone rose from 24 per cent to 32 per cent.

The study shows that the gap between the rich and poor has remained unchanged since Labour came to power, despite a pledge to break down the divide. [Telegraph] 1436.7