One quarter of all families in Northern Ireland are now lone parents, with the overwhelming majority of these headed by women, according to new research published by the independent Policy Studies Institute

The research by a team at the University of Ulster led by Professor Eileen Evason is contained in the book Private Lives and Public Responses: Lone Parenthood and Future Policy in the UK. It shows that, by 1995, 75 per cent of all female lone parents in the province were on income support or family credit.

Key findings in the study, ‘Lone Mothers on Income Support in Northern Ireland’, show that:

• The main route out of receipt of income support or family credit is moving out of lone parenthood itself, rather than securing reasonably paid employment, or increased maintenance, or a combination of both.

• Those who remain lone parents move, to a large extent, between benefits, between low- paid employment, and between no employment. The majority claim income support throughout their current spells of lone parenthood and nearly half had been on income support for more than six years.

• A significant proportion of Northern Ireland’s children live at or near the poverty line for very long periods. On the deprivation index used, the majority of lone-parent families may be considered to be experiencing severe material hardship.

• The majority of lone mothers wished to seek paid employment outside the home at some point but were prevented from doing so by a number of constraints, including the need to care for their children; ill-health and disability; and the concern that they would be no better off.

The study, drawing on statistics from the DHSS and Continuous Household Survey, shows that between 1988 and 1993 the number of lone parents on income support increased by 70 per cent: a figure far above the rate of increase in the number of lone parents generally in Northern Ireland and the comparable figure for Britain (44 per cent). Between 1989 and 1992 the proportion of lone parents in full-time employment had declined from 18 to 11 per cent - again, a much sharper drop than occurred in Britain.

Professor Eileen Evason said:

‘This is an ongoing research effort of considerable importance to the development of policy in relation to lone parents in Northern Ireland. It highlights the fact that there are no easy solutions to addressing the poverty of lone mothers and children here.’

1. Private Lives and Public Responses, edited by Reuben Ford and Jane Millar, is based on the proceedings of a conference held at the University of Bath in 1997, and supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The report is published by PSI and is available from Grantham Books on 01476 541080, priced £17.95, ISBN 0 85374 736 9. A ‘Foundations’ summary of the report is available from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on 01904 629241, or on their web site .

2. PSI is a registered educational charity (no. 313819) and has no association with any political party, pressure group or commercial interest.