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Children

Volume 490: debated on Monday 23 March 2009

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many families there were with (a) one, (b) two, (c) three and (d) four or more dependent children in each of the last 10 years. (264170)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many families there were with (a) one, (b) two, (c) three and (d) four or more dependent children in each of the last 10 years. (264170)

Estimates of the number of families with dependent children are available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Table 1 shows figures for the UK for the last ten years.

Figures for 2009 are not yet available.

Table 1: Number of families with dependent children in the UK

Thousand

Number of dependent children in family

One

Two

Three

Four or more

Total

1997

3,071

2,947

986

319

7,323

1998

3,102

2,976

966

317

7,361

1999

3,135

3,001

932

322

7,389

2000

3,063

2,992

986

303

7,344

2001

3,143

3,003

919

308

7,374

2002

3,170

2,991

927

293

7,381

2003

3,130

3,018

904

298

7,349

2004

3,213

3,031

886

276

7,405

2005

3,378

2,932

883

266

7,458

2006

3,346

2,961

877

272

7,456

2007

3,382

2,941

874

271

7,468

2008

3,432

2,911

878

266

7,488

Source:

Labour force survey household data, April to June quarters, not seasonally adjusted.