Brussels - The number of families in the EU headed by single parents has risen sharply since 1983, according to an EU study issued yesterday. Lone parents headed 14 per cent of EU families with dependent children in 1996, up from 9 per cent in 1983, said the EU statistical office Eurostat.
The 1996 figure for Britain was 23 per cent, a jump of 94 per cent since 1983. Greece and Spain were at the other extreme, with seven and 8 per cent.
Eurostat said 84 per cent of the single parents were women. The average income of lone parents was only 77 per cent that of other families with dependent children. British and Irish single parents fared the worst, earning 64 and 59 per cent respectively of other families.