Family Life in the UK

Average size of households
Between 1961 and 2006 the average size of household in Great Britain declined, from 3.1 persons to 2.4.
It has continued to decline, though at a slower rate, in the last few of years so that by 2008, the average number of persons per household was 2.37.

Large Households
In 1961 7% of all households in Great Britain were home to at least 6 people now only 2% of all households are home to 6 or more people.

Lone person households
The percentage of adults living in one-person households has doubled over the last 50 years; in 1961 the percentage of households that were "one person" was 14% and in 2009 the figure was 28%.

Families
 In 1971 92% of families with dependent children were headed by a married or cohabiting couple. In 2008 77% of families were of this type.

The number of families headed by a lone mother was 7% in 1971 and had risen to 22% by 2009.

The number of families headed by a lone father increased slightly during the 1970's and 1980's but is still only approx. 3%

3.8 million children live without their mother or father.

Work and family life balance
In 1979 25% of mothers returned to work within a year of their child's birth.  In 1996 66% of mothers were returning to work within a year of their child's birth. In 2005 50% of mothers were taking 6 months paid maternity leave whilst 14% chose to take their full entitlement of 52 weeks maternity leave.

In 2007 54% of women choosing to work part time as opposed to working full time and 53% of women not working at all said there reasons for doing so was so that they could spend time with their children.

Fewer adults now think that mothers with children under school age should stay at home. This means there is less support for full time mothers. In 1989 64% said women with young children should not work. In 2006 the figure was 40%

Two thirds of all households with dependent children are now classed as "dual earner" households.

The group who work the longest hours according the Department of Trade and Industry are fathers aged 30 to 49. Despite this it seems that fathers are now spending more time with their children. A survey in 2004 found that married fathers of children under 5 years of age spent 1.2. hours per day with their children whereas in 1960 married fathers with young children spent on average only 0.4 hours per day with their children.

Grandparents
Figures published by the Office for National Statistics in 2001 indicated that 60% of grandparents saw their grandchildren at least once per week. 10% saw their grandchildren less than once every 3 months.

In 1960 25% of households were 3 generation households.  The Millennium Cohort study published in 2007 found that 4% of families included a resident grandparent.