18 March 2004 - Publication of DWP research report: Families and children in Britain: findings from the 2002 families and children study (FACS)
Research published today by the Department for Work and Pensions explores the characteristics and circumstances of families in 2002. 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. In 2001 a representative sample of lone parents and all couples with dependent children were interviewed.
The study follows the same families from one year to the next. FACS collects information on a wide range of subjects, such as employment, benefits, income, tax credits, use of services and childcare. The study is sponsored by a number of government departments.
The report published today is: DWP Research Report No. 206 ‘Families and Children in Britain: Findings from the 2002 Families and Children study (FACS)’ by Matt Barnes et al.
The main findings include the following:
- A total of 7,883 families were interviewed for FACS 2002, with a total of 13,730 dependent children (aged 16 years or younger, or 17 to 18 years and in full-time education) in these families.
- One in ten mothers described their health over the past 12 months as ‘not good’, with almost twice as many mothers in lone parent families saying so compared with mothers in couple families (15 and 8 per cent, respectively).
- Parents of 14 to 15 year olds reported that one in twenty had been in contact with the police in the last year, while 13 per cent were reported to have had problems with smoking, drinking or drugs.
- Of families with children, 84 per cent had at least one adult in work of any hours per week. While five per cent of couple families had no parent working any hours per week, almost half (47 per cent) of lone parents were not working any hours.
- The barriers to work most frequently identified by mothers who were not looking to return to work were "Don't want to spend more time apart from my children" (45 per cent), “Own illness/disability” (14 per cent) and “Cannot afford childcare” (12 per cent).
- Of lone parent families, 34 per cent had a total family income of less than £200 pounds per week, compared to five per cent of couple families who received the same amount.
- A fifth of all families in 2002 were in receipt of Working Families’ Tax Credit (WFTC). The amount of income received from WFTC largely fell between £60 and £99 per week.
- Among families where at least one child had a non-resident parent, 52 per cent had an order or agreement for child support in place. Of those with an order or assessment 64 per cent had actually received payments.
- Being out of work had the strongest relationship with material deprivation. Of lone parent families where the parent was not working or working less than 16 hours per week, 24 per cent went without four or more consumer durables. A quarter (26 per cent) of both lone parent and couple families with no one working or working less than 16 hours per week went without four or more leisure activities.
Notes for editors
- The sample was drawn from Child Benefit records. Interviews with about 8,000 families with dependent children were conducted between September 2002 and January 2003. Main interviews were conducted with the ‘mother figure’ in the household, with partners interviewed where present and willing to participate.
- The fieldwork for the research was conducted by the National Centre for Social Research. The analysis of FACS contained in this report was also conducted by them.
- This report forms the first main publication presenting the findings of the 2002 survey. Further distinct reports will be published over the next year drawing on the longitudinal element of the survey.
- ‘Families and Children in Britain: Findings from the 2002 Families and children study (FACS)’ by Matt Barnes et al., DWP Research Report Series (no. 206) is published on 18th March 2004. A summary and copy of the report is available on the DWP website: http//www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5.
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