This story summarises the distribution of family types (married couples, cohabiting couples and lone parents with/without dependent children) within England and Wales and the interaction with family size (number of dependent children). Variations in family size and type by country of birth are also highlighted.

Key Points

• Of the 15.8 million families living in households in England and Wales, 92% (14.4 million) were living in one family households.
• The proportion of families that were married couples (both with and without dependent children) declined from 70% in 2001 to 65% in 2011; cohabiting couples and lone parent families increased over the same period.
• The majority (85%) of families in England and Wales had a UK-born family reference person (FRP).
• Just over one third of non-UK born FRPs were born in the Middle East and Asia (36%), with the two largest countries of birth (India and Pakistan) accounting for more than half (52%) from this region
• Lone parent families accounted for 18% of all families in England and Wales; the proportion was highest for families with a Somali-born FRP (60%).
• Families including three or more dependent children accounted for 7.0% of all families in England and Wales; families with a Somali-born FRP had the highest proportion (47%).
• 11% of couple families with dependent children in England and Wales were stepfamilies; one in five (21%) couple families including dependent children with a Jamaican-born FRP were stepfamilies. This was the highest level of any non-UK born FRP group.