Lone parents' lives
A hard copy of this report summary can be obtained by contacting Paul Noakes [E-Mail: Paul.Noakes@dwp.gsi.gov.uk] or by writing to him at the 'Social Research Division, Department for Work and Pensions, 4th Floor, Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT'.
Research Report No. 78
By Joan Payne and Martin Range
This report presents findings from secondary analysis of the 1958 British Birth Cohort, also known as the National Child Development Study (NCDS), which has followed all children born in Great Britain in one week in March 1958 from birth to age 33. The analysis explored how lone parenthood has affected cohort members' lives, specifically partners' partnership, fertility, employment and housing histories.
The main findings are:
- More than half of women who had experienced lone motherhood were no longer lone parents by age 33. in total 83% of first time mothers had lived with a partner at some point in the past, and 17% had never lived with a partner. Having lived with a partner in the past increased the chances of leaving lone parenthood.
- Over half of women with experience of lone motherhood had lived with more than one partner, compared with one in nine women who had children but were never lone parents. Lone mothers were younger on average than other mothers when they started living with their first partner, and less likely to have been married to him.
- The chances of re-entering lone motherhood were also related to housing tenure after the end of the first spell. Partnerships were more likely to break down if the family were living with the mother's parents, in social rented housing or in other miscellaneous types of accommodation.
- Although at age 18 (in 1976) lone mothers were more likely to be working full-time than mothers of the same age who had partners, by age 33 (1991) there was no difference between the groups. The increasing age of the mothers in NCDS, and age of their youngest child, accounts for higher full-time working rates for these lone mothers than for lone mothers of all ages.
- For part-time work, employment rates were similar for lone mothers with partners up until mid-twenties, after when lone mothers became increasingly less likely to work part-time than partnered mothers of the same age.
- The probability of starting full-time work and the probability of starting part-time work were both greater if the youngest child had reached school age, and much smaller if the mother gave birth to another child while she was already a lone parent.
Introduction
The 1958 British Birth Cohort, also known as the National Child Development Study or NCDS, has followed all children born in Great Britain in one week in March 1958 from birth through to age 33. This report describes the experiences of over a thousand cohort members who had been lone parents. Only 7% were men, so most of the report is about lone mothers.
Statistics of lone motherhood
In all, 17% of all women in the cohort, and 23% of mothers, had been lone parents by the age of 33 (when they were last interviewed. The large majority of these had experiences just one spell of lone motherhood (83%), but one in eight had experienced two spells and one in 25 had experienced three or more spells. One in eight first became lone mothers while teenagers, one in three first became lone mothers when they were 29 or older.
Lone motherhood and partnership histories
One in four mothers had no partner in the month before they became lone parents. Among teenage lone mothers this increased to seven out of ten; among women who became lone mothers at age 29 or older it was only one in ten. In total 83% of first-time lone mothers had lived with a partner at some point in the past, and 17% had never lived with a partner.
By age 33, lone mothers without previous partners had spent longer on average as lone parents than lone mothers who had lived with a partner beforehand. A statistical model confirmed that having lived with a partner beforehand increased the chances of leaving lone motherhood. Whether they had been married to this person or cohabiting appeared to make no difference.
One in seven lone mothers who had previous partners was later reunited with her last partner. In such cases, the spell of lone motherhood tended to be fairly short. More than a third of these reconciliations broke down again before the women reached the age of 33.
Almost all lone mothers in the cohort who had stopped being lone parents by the age of 33 did so because they started living with a partner. In five out of six cases this was a new partnership; the rest were reconciled with a previous partner. Of all the women who had lived with a partner some time before becoming a lone parent, 88% had lived with one partner only, 10% had lived with two partners, and 2% had lived with three or more.
By age 33, over half of women with experience of lone motherhood had lived with more than one partner, compared with one in nine women who had borne children but never been lone parents. Lone mothers were also younger on average than other mothers when they started living with their first partner, and were less likely to have been married to him.
Lone motherhood and fertility histories
When they first became lone mothers, 58% had one child living with them. 32% had two children and 10% had three or more. Virtually all women with two or more children living with them when they became lone parents had previously lived with a partner.
Nine per cent of women who had experienced lone parenthood by the age of 33 gave birth to another child while already a lone mother, but more than two in five of these births took place within nine months of becoming a lone mother. Having another child while already a lone mother appeared to be a largely unpredictable event which bore little relationship to the mother's characteristics or circumstances.
Women with experience of lone motherhood appeared more likely to have had an abortion by age 33 than both mothers who had never been lone parents and women who had not had any live births. Lone mothers were more likely than other mothers to have given birth to a child than since died.
Leaving lone motherhood
Because NCDS cohort members were only 33 when last interviewed, virtually all those who stopped being lone mothers did so because they formed a new partnership or because they were reconciled with their former partner.
A statistical model showed that, other things being equal, the older women were when they became lone parents, the smaller the probability of leaving lone motherhood. Having lived with a partner before becoming a lone mother increased the likelihood of exit, though the legal status of the partnership made no difference.
Women whose youngest child was of school age had a significantly better chance of leaving lone parenthood than women with younger children. The number of children made no difference. As a spell of lone motherhood lengthened, the chances of leaving lone motherhood fell. This may have been because of selection effects.
Lone mothers tended to have poorer examination results at 16 and lower scores on a test of general ability taken at age 11 than other women, especially if they became lone mother at a young age. However, there was no clear relationship between ability and the overall probability of leaving lone motherhood.
Social tenants and those living with their parents were less likely than other lone mothers to form a new partnership, but housing tenure was not significantly related to the chances of a reconciliation. Mother's employment made no difference to exit probabilities. Lone mothers who lived in London or the southern counties of England had significantly higher chances of finding a new partner than lone mothers who lived in other regions.
Women with low scores on the test of general ability were less likely to find a new partner than other women. Apart from this, the higher the ability, the lower the likelihood of forming a new partnership.
Re-entering lone motherhood
By age 33, second spells of lone motherhood tended to be shorter than first spells, and third spells shorter still. Multiple spells of lone motherhood were characteristic of women in unstable relations liable to be interrupted by short periods of separation.
The chances of re-entering lone motherhood were also related to housing tenure after the end of the first spell. Partnerships were more likely to break down if the family was living with the mother's parents, in social rented housing or in other miscellaneous types of accommodation.
Employment rates
Although at age 18 (in 1976) lone mothers were more likely to be working full-time than mothers of the same age who had partners, by age 33 (1991) there was no difference between the two groups. This differs from the General Household Survey (GHS) which shows, since the late 1970s, lower full-time working among lone mothers. The group of lone mothers in the NCDS are ageing over this period as are their children, accounting for their greater tendency to be in full-time work.
By age 33, partnered women were more likely to be in part-time work than their lone parent counter-parts, regardless of whether their youngest child was under or over five years old, and regardless of whether they had one child or two.
Movement into and out of paid work
About a quarter of lone mothers in the NCDS cohort had a different job status in the last month of their first spell of lone motherhood (or at age 33) than in the first month. One in ten lone mothers who were initially in full-time work later moved to a part-time job, and nearly two in ten gave up paid work. Similarly, one in ten women who were initially in part-time jobs moved to full-time work, and two in ten gave up paid work later took a job, half moving to full-time work and half to part-time work. two in five lone mothers spent no time no time at all in paid work during their first spell of lone parenthood.
Statistical modelling showed that for women who were not in paid work when they became lone mothers, the fewer children they had, the more likely they were to start a full-time job during their spell of lone motherhood. However, the number of children made no difference to the probability of starting a part-time job. The probability of starting full-time work and the probability of starting part-time work were both much greater if the youngest child had reached school age, and smaller if the mother gave birth to another child while she was already a lone parent. Both probabilities increased with ability as measured as age 11. Women who were under 18 when they became lone mothers were more likely to leave paid work than older women, but, other things being equal, women whose youngest child was a baby under 12 months were less likely than women with older children to do so.
Lone motherhood and housing histories
At age 19 most lone mothers were either living with their parents or as social tenants. Social tenancies, peaked in the mid to late twenties and then fell slightly, while owner-occupation increased steadily to age 33. By then, the two main housing tenures for lone mothers were social renting and owner-occupation. Living with parents was largely confined to young lone mothers, and private tenancies were few.
The proportion of mothers with partners who were social tenants fell with age, and was well under half the level among lone mothers by age 33. Meanwhile, owner-occupation grew more rapidly among mothers with partners, so that by age 33 there was a difference of some 40 percentage points between the two groups. At all ages, ;one mothers were much more likely than mothers with partners to live with their parents.
Half of lone mothers moved house during their first spell of lone parenthood, and a quarter moved during their second spell. The younger women were when they became lone parents, and the younger and fewer their children, the more likely they were to move. The large majority of lone mothers who were owner-occupiers or social tenants kept the same tenure throughout their first spell of lone parenthood. In contrast, 70% of those who were living with parents moved out, more than three in five into social rented housing.
Statistical modelling showed that it helped lone mothers to obtain a social tenancy if they had several children and were private tenants, lived with their parents or held other miscellaneous forms of tenure.
Lone fatherhood
Men with experience of lone fatherhood formed a little over 1% of all men in the NCDS cohort, and around 2% of all men who were fathers by age 33. Sample numbers are thus very small and all the estimates are subject to wide confidence intervals.
None became a lone father before the age of 20, and more than half were aged 30 or more when they did so. Around nine of ten had experienced only one spell as a lone parent by age 33, and three in five spells had ended by age 33.
Most lone fathers had lived with a partner before becoming a lone parent, and more than a half had a partner afterwards. Compared to other men in the cohort who had fathered children by age 33, lone fathers were more likely to have lived with more than one partner. They had also entered their first partnership at an earlier age than other fathers.
When they became lone parents, lone fathers tended to have more children living with them than lone mothers, and their children tended to be older.
In total, about four in five lone fathers were in work in the first month of their spell of lone parenthood, about twice as many as among lone mothers. Part-time work was rare. About two-thirds worked throughout their first spell of lone parenthood, and about one in eight did not work at all.
Relevant publications
Marsh, A. and McKay, S. (1993) “Families, Work and Benefits”, London: Policy Studies Institute
McKay, S. and Marsh, A. (1994)“ lone parents and Work”, (Department of Social Security Research Report No. 25), London: HMSO
McKay, S. and Marsh, A.(1995) “Why Didn't They Claim?”, London: Policy Studies Institute
Ford, R. Marsh, A. and McKay, S. (1995) “Changes in Lone Parenthood”, (Department of Social Security Research Report No. 40), London: HMSO
Bryson, A. and Marsh, A. (1996) “Leaving Family Credit”, (Department of Social Security Research Report No. 48), London: HMSO
Ford. R, (1996) “Childcare in the Balance”, London: Policy Studies Institute
Marsh, A, Ford, R. and Finlayson (1997) “Lone Parents, Work and Benefits”, (Department of Social Security Research Report No. 61), London: TSO
Marsh, A, Ford, R. and Finlayson (1998) “What Happens to lone parents” (Department of Social Security Research Report No. 77), London: TSO