9 June 2009 – Families with children in Britain: findings from the 2007 Families and Children Study (FACS)

Research published today by the Department for Work and Pensions explores the characteristics and circumstances of families and children in 2007. The report is based on analysis of the Families and Children Study (FACS). This study began in 1999, with a representative sample of all lone parents and low/moderate-income couple families.  From 2001 a representative sample of lone parents and all couple families with dependent children were interviewed.

FACS provides information about children, their parents and families as a whole across a wide range of subjects.  The first part of the report focuses on the circumstances, lives and conditions of families, and topics covered include: family characteristics, health, education, work, income, benefits and tax credits, social capital, money management, housing and deprivation. The second part of the report focuses on the circumstances, conditions and lives of children, and topics covered include: child characteristics, health, schooling, children's activities, childcare and child maintenance.

The report published today is: DWP Research Report No.578 ‘Families with Children in Britain: Findings from the 2007 Families and Children Study (FACS)’ by Dan Philo, Natalie Maplethorpe, Anne Conolly and Mari Toomse

The main findings include the following:

• Almost one-quarter (23 per cent) of children lived in a lone parent family. Lone parent families were more likely than couple families to live in social housing, to be in the lowest income quintile and to have at least one child with a disability.
• Four out of five (83 per cent) families had at least one parent working 16 or more hours per week (pw). Fifty four per cent of lone parents worked 16+ hours (pw) and 57 per cent of couple families had both partners doing so. Forty one per cent of lone parent households were workless compared with 5 per cent of couple households.
• One in 6 children (17 per cent) lived in a household where no one worked over 16 hrs (pw). The majority of these (11 per cent of all children) were in lone parent households.
• Forty one per cent of lone parents and 55 per cent of couple mothers who worked less than 16 hrs (pw) reported ‘do not want to be apart from my children’ as a reason for not working full-time.
• Fifty one per cent of lone parents working less than 16 hrs (pw) reported ‘always or often’ running out of money before the end of the week or month.  Thirty seven per cent were worried about money ‘almost all the time’.
• Over half (56 per cent) of children with working mothers were placed in child-care. Use of informal childcare (41 per cent) was more prevalent than formal childcare (28 per cent).
• Perceptions of the affordability and quality of childcare remained similar to 2005 and 2006.  For 2007 around a quarter (27 per cent) of mothers reported that there was ‘not enough childcare’ and that childcare was ‘not at all affordable’ (26 per cent). Mothers were positive about the quality of childcare in their local area, over a half (58 per cent) said it was ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ good.
• Approximately 42 per cent of families with a child maintenance interest did not have an order/agreement for child maintenance. Two thirds (68 per cent) of families with an agreement in place received payments. Families with a voluntary agreement were more likely to receive payment on time compared to those with a CSA assessment.
• One in ten mothers had a limiting long-term illness or disability that limits daily activities They were more likely to be lone parents than couple mothers, live in social housing and to be in a lower income quintile.

Background to the research

1. The sample was drawn from Child Benefit records. Interviews with 7,109 families with a total of 10,631 dependent children were conducted in autumn/winter 2007. Main interviews were conducted with the 'mother figure' in the household, with partners interviewed where present and willing to participate.
2. The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) conducted the fieldwork for the research, and the analysis of FACS contained in this report.
3. 'Families With Children in Britain: Findings from the 2007 Families and children study (FACS)' by Dan Philo, Natalie Maplethorpe, Anne Conolly and Mari Toomse. DWP Research Report Series No. 578 will be published in early June 2009. A summary and copy of the report is available on the DWP website: http//research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/.

 

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