Partnership
and parenthood in the 21st Century
A large-scale survey of babies born in
the UK - The Millenium Cohort Study - provides information on 18,819
babies born between September 2000 and August 2001. The sample design
allowed for over-representation of families living in areas with high
rates of child poverty, and in areas with high proportions of ethnic
minorities, and the three smaller countries of the UK:
· 60% of parents were married
and 25% were cohabiting.
· 15% of the babies had mothers
who were not living with a partner when they were born. 4% had mothers
who were not in any relationship. For 7% of babies their parents were
" closely involved", 2% were "just friends" and
1% were separated or divorced.
· Over 90% of both married and
cohabiting fathers were present at the birth of their child.
· 97% of babies born to cohabiting
parents had their father's name on their birth certificate.
· 73% of babies whose mothers
were not in a relationship did not have their father's name included
on their birth certificate.
· Among mothers who were not living
with a partner at the time of the birth, just under a quarter (23%)
were living with the father just over nine months later.
· 39% of babies of married couples
were born into a household with low or very low income compared with
62% of babies of cohabiting couples.
· 3% of married parents were receiving
income support compared with 13% of cohabiting parents.
· 81% of married parents owned
their homes compared with 54% of cohabiting parents.
Reference
Kiernan, K. (2003) Unmarried
parenthood: new insights from the Millennium Cohort Study. Population
Trends 114. (London: The Stationery Office).
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