Employment: Lone Parents

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the average income for a lone parent with a single child in their first year back into work if they worked on average (a) 16 hours, (b) 18 hours, (c) 20 hours, (d) 22 hours, (e) 24 hours, (f) 26 hours, (g) 28 hours, (h) 30 hours, (i) 32 hours, (j) 34 hours, (k) 36 hours, (l) 38 hours and (m) 40 hours, per week in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. (244144)

Information on the average income for a lone parent with a single child in their first year back into work is not available.

The available information is shown in the following table.

*Median net weekly income for lone parents with a single child in work by hours of work, 2006-07*
Number of hours worked per week	Median net weekly income (£)
Under 20	248
20-30	282
30-40	324
40 or over	403
All	312
Notes: 1. The Family Resources Survey (FRS) is a nationally representative sample of approximately 26,000 households. 2. Data for 2006-07 were collected between April 2006 and March 2007. 3. The figures are based on a sample of households which have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the FRS to Government Office Region populations by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining non-response error. 4. The FRS does not collect details on when the respondent started work. So the estimates include lone parents who may always have been in work and never on benefits. 5. The categories for the number of hours worked have been grouped together owing to small sample sizes. 6. Weekly income is based on self-assessment and therefore may be subject to misreporting. Source: Family Resources Survey

Volume 486: debated on Tuesday 20 January 2009