Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
30,000
Other with
dependent children
Other without
children
Lone parent
households
Couple with
children
Couple without
dependent children
Single
female
Single
male
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
1991
2001
2008
2013
2023
2033
Figure 3.1
Household composition, 1991-2033: Numbers of households in England by
household type (projections are 2010 forecasts based on 2008 data).
Source
:
Future Foundation
Falling marriage rates and increasing divorce rates
As outlined in Figure 3.2, the number of marriages taking place has fallen
to a new low in recent years. At the same time, divorce rates have remained
relatively stable, which means that the proportion of marriages ending in
divorce has been steadily growing. It seems clear that the growing divorce
rate has brought a kind of instability to the family concept.
However, what is often overlooked is the detailed analysis (Figure 3.2),
which shows the family is being reconstituted, even in light of divorce
statistics, as a great proportion of divorcees remarry and cohabit. Indeed,
higher proportions of divorced people cohabit than any other marital group.
Hence, while families are separating through divorce, people are forming
new families, while often still being networked to their old ones through
the children. Social, as opposed to biological, parenting is an increasing phe-
nomenon in family life. More and more men and women are raising children
who are not biologically their own. For example, research by the Future
Foundation (2006) found that 17% of men born in 1970 are stepfathers,
nearly double the proportion among men born just 12 years earlier. Since
the majority of children remain with their biological mother after divorce,
most stepfamilies will have a stepfather rather than a stepmother. Most
non-resident fathers have regular contact with their children, with nearly
a half seeing them every week and a further fifth at least once a month. In
