Families And Households 2012

There were 18.2m families in the UK in 2012 according to a statistical bulletin from the ONS. Married couple family types (including civil partnerships) are the most common family type in the UK in 2012. The number of married families without dependent children was 7.6m and the number with dependent children was 4.6m. The number of families consisting of a married couple with or without children was 12.2m. Cohabiting couple families increased significantly from 1.5m in 1996 to 2.9m in 2012. The number of dependent children in cohabiting families increased from 0.9m to 1.8m. In 2012, 38% of married couples had dependent children compared with 39% of cohabiting families. Lone parent families with dependent children has increased steadily since 1996 from 1.6m to 2m. There were 26.4m households in the UK in 2012. Nearly 20% consisted of 4 or more people and 29% consisted of 1 only person.

Family Food 2009

The Family Food 2009 annual report published by Defra recently showed that food prices were on average 5% higher in 2009 than in 2008 and consumers spent 3.6% more on food and drink. Food was less of a burden on low household incomes quintiles than in 2008 with the percentage spent on food and non-alcoholic drinks falling from 16.8% to 15.8% of total expenditure. In terms of calories consumers bought 1.2% more food but bought 3.1% less fruit and vegetables. Dietary nutrition indicators suggest a slightly negative shift in 2009. Defra also tells us in its WRAP survey that in 2008 15% of all food purchased was wasted.