To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of families with a child under the age of 18 years where there is (a) one parent or guardian and (b) two parents or guardians. (143594)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Jil Matheson, dated 19 June 2007:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your request for the number of families with a child under the age of 18 years where there is (a) one parent or guardian and (b) two parents or guardians. I am replying in her absence. (143594)

The available figures are estimates from the Labour Force Survey of the numbers of families with dependent children in the United Kingdom in each year. A child is considered to be dependent if they are aged under 16 or 1648 but in full-time education. For this reason, the figures include some children aged 18 (those in full-time education). In 2006, it is estimated that there were 1,879 thousand lone parent families with dependent children and 5,474 couple families with dependent children.