Official Statistics

Separated families statistics: April 2014 to March 2023

Published 21 March 2024

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

This is the latest release of annual statistics on separated families in Great Britain.

In Spring 2023, the Chief Statistician for DWP led an internal review of all experimental official statistics produced by DWP. This is in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The review found that it was appropriate to remove the experimental label from this publication because it was concluded that the statistics are suitable and of public value. As of 21 March 2024, these statistics are now classed as ‘official statistics’.

This publication contains new estimates covering the financial year ending 2023. Further information is available in the background information and methodology note.

The next release is planned for March 2025.                                      

1. Introduction

This publication uses the Family Resources Survey (FRS) and Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data. It provides new statistical estimates relating to separated families and their child maintenance arrangements for the financial year ending 2023.

In this period:

• FRS sample sizes improved both compared to the period of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the financial year ending 2020, pre-pandemic
• Survey fieldwork operations gradually returned to levels of face-to-face interviewing more comparable to the pre-pandemic period

Analysis of the achieved sample has shown it compares well with that from the financial year ending 2020, and representativeness has improved compared with what was observed during the pandemic. Users will still need to be aware of the potential effects of COVID-19 on both the survey and individual circumstances and should interpret results, particularly across the financial years ending 2021 and 2022, with care. Further detail on these impacts are available below and in the background information and methodology note.

These statistics provide estimates of the following:

• the number of separated families in Great Britain and the number of children in those families
• the proportion of separated families with a child maintenance arrangement and whether this arrangement is statutory or non-statutory
• the total amount of child maintenance received by parents with care, by arrangement type
• the net impact of child maintenance payments on the number of children in low-income households
• characteristics of separated parents and the impacts of child maintenance payments on where their households are represented in the income distribution

This release includes the following additional details on households in low income and incomes, by child maintenance arrangement type:

• the net impact of child maintenance payments on the number of children living in low income
• the percentage of children in parent with care households who remain in low income after child maintenance
• the position of separated parent households in the Great Britain income distribution

This release also includes a methodological improvement to the way we calculate the net impact of child maintenance payments on the number of children living in absolute low income.

An additional methodological change will improve the representation of non-resident parents in the existing table breakdowns.

Further details on the methodology and changes set out above are provided in the background information and methodology note.

It should be noted that there is no requirement for separated families to have a child maintenance arrangement and some families may not want an arrangement. If parents do want an arrangement, they may be able to agree this themselves without the involvement of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). Arrangements made in this way are called non-statutory arrangements or ‘family-based arrangements’. Where parents want an arrangement but need help with this, support is available through the digital service ‘Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance’.

2. Main stories

In the latest financial year ending 2023, it is estimated that:

• there were 2.4 million separated families in Great Britain and 3.8 million children in those separated families
• 59% of separated families had a child maintenance arrangement

In the three-year period covering the financial years ending 2021 to 2023, it is estimated that:

• Parents with care in separated families received a total of £2.8 billion annually in child maintenance payments
• 87% of parents with care were female and 87% were under the age of 50
• 89% of non-resident parents were male and 78% were under the age of 50
• child maintenance payments reduced the number of children living in low-income households annually. Overall, as a result of these payments, 140,000 children were kept out of absolute low income on a before housing costs basis, and 160,000 children on an after housing costs basis
• of the 160,000 children kept out of absolute low income each year on an after housing costs basis, 60,000 were in households with a statutory arrangement and 100,000 were in households with a non-statutory arrangement
• child maintenance receipts reduced the percentage of individuals in parent with care households who are in the lowest 20% of the after housing costs income distribution by three percentage points
• child maintenance payments reduced the percentage of individuals in non-resident parent households who are in the highest 40% of the after housing costs income distribution by four percentage points
• the income distributions of parent with care households
  • with no arrangement tend to be heavily skewed towards the bottom of the Great Britain income distribution
  • with a statutory or a non-statutory arrangement also tend to be skewed towards the bottom of the distribution, but to a slightly lesser extent
• the income distributions of non-resident parent households
  • with a statutory arrangement or no arrangement tend to be skewed towards the bottom of the Great Britain income distribution
  • with a non-statutory arrangement tend to be slightly skewed towards the top of the income distribution
• the percentage of children in parent with care households who remain in absolute low income after housing costs and after child maintenance is 28% for children in households with a statutory arrangement, 27% for children in households with a non-statutory arrangement, and 40% for children in households with no arrangement

3. What you need to know

Parent with care

A parent with care is the parent who has sole or main day-to-day care of any relevant children and who may potentially be eligible to receive child maintenance.

Non-resident parent

A non-resident parent is the parent who does not have sole or main day-to-day care of any relevant children and who may be required to pay child maintenance.

Separated family

A separated family is defined as one parent with care, one non-resident parent and any biological or adopted children they have between them who are either under 16 or under 20 and in full-time non-tertiary education.

Child maintenance arrangement

There are two main types of child maintenance arrangement: statutory arrangements and non-statutory arrangements (see below). Separated families may have more than one type of arrangement.

Statutory child maintenance arrangements

Statutory child maintenance arrangements are those which have been arranged with the help of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS).

Non-statutory arrangements

Non-statutory arrangements include all other arrangements such as:

• voluntary financial arrangements which involve direct monetary payments between parents where the CMS have not been involved
• voluntary non-financial arrangements involving payments in kind
• other types of arrangements including shared care arrangements
• court orders requiring parents to make financial payments

Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance

Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance is a new digital service for child maintenance applications and information about the choices available to parents to either make their own (non-statutory) arrangement or use the CMS. This service replaced the Child Maintenance Options service from 1 April 2022.

Child Maintenance Service (CMS)

The CMS was introduced in December 2012. It replaced the Child Support Agency (CSA) and is for separated parents who cannot arrange child maintenance between themselves. Parents can ask the CMS to calculate the amount of maintenance to be paid and, if necessary, to help manage and collect payments. Since the end of 2018, all CSA cases with on-going liabilities closed. Parents now have the option of setting up a statutory arrangement with the CMS, a non-statutory, family-based arrangement, or choosing not to have an arrangement at all.

Equivalised household income

If a household’s income is equivalised, it means that it has been adjusted for household size and composition to make it comparable with other household incomes.

Low income

A household is said to be in relative low income if their equivalised income is below 60% of median household income, while they are said to be in absolute low income if their equivalised income is below 60% of the median household income adjusted for inflation for the financial year ending 2011. For comparative purposes, both relative and absolute low income are estimated before and after taking housing costs into account.

Income deciles and quintiles

In this publication deciles divide the population, when ranked by equivalised household income, into ten equal sized groups, and are indicated by 1 to 10, while quintiles divide the population into five groups.

Income distribution

This shows how equivalised household income is shared through a population. Comparisons to the equivalised household income percentiles of a reference population allow the income distributions of different groups to be compared. In this publication we show the distribution of equivalised household incomes of individuals in parent with care and non-resident parent households relative to the equivalised household income quintiles of all individuals in Great Britain.

4. Separated families and their child maintenance arrangements

It is estimated that in the financial year ending 2023, there were approximately 2.4 million separated families in Great Britain, including 3.8 million children in those separated families. These estimates represent decreases of 0.1 million in the number of separated families and 0.2 million in the number of children in separated families since the financial year ending 2022. Since the financial year ending 2020, the number of separated families has increased by 0.1 million, and the number of children in separated families has increased by 0.2 million.

Changes over the latest two years in the number of separated families reflect trends in lone parent estimates seen in the Labour Force Survey (LFS)^{[footnote 1]}. The changes in the number of children in separated families reflect both the changes in estimated numbers of separated families and trends in the estimated number of children in each separated family. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on survey data collection for both the FRS and LFS may also have affected these statistics in the financial years ending 2021 and 2122^{[footnote 2]}. As such, caution should be exercised when interpreting changes compared with those years.

In the financial year ending 2023, 59% of separated families had a child maintenance arrangement. Around two thirds of these were non-statutory arrangements and around one third were statutory arrangements. The proportion of separated families with a statutory arrangement increased by one percentage point since the financial year ending 2022, while there was no change in the proportion of separated families with a non-statutory arrangement. Since the financial year ending 2020, there has been a three percentage point increase in the proportion of separated families with a statutory arrangement and a three percentage point decrease in the proportion of separated families with a non-statutory arrangement.

The percentage of separated families with a child maintenance arrangement has remained largely stable since the financial year ending 2020

Separated families by child maintenance arrangement type, for the financial years ending 2020 to 2023

Sources: FRS and CMS administrative database (see the accompanying tables for full data).

Notes about these statistics:

1. Totals may not sum to 100% due to rounding. Percentages are calculated using figures prior to rounding and are rounded to the nearest integer.
2. Figures relating to the financial year ending 2023 are new and shown for the first time in this publication. All other figures in the accompanying tables remain unchanged from previous publications.
3. For simplicity, parents who have both statutory and non-statutory arrangements are included in the statutory arrangement group. (See the accompanying tables for full data).

4. Measures of uncertainty to assess statistical significance of year on year changes are currently unavailable, but are being explored for future publications. As a result of COVID-19, sample sizes are smaller and estimates are expected to be more uncertain than usual in the financial years ending 2021 and 2022. Users should interpret results with care, particularly across these years.

5. The impact of child maintenance payments on the number of children in low-income households

On average, it is estimated that £2.8 billion in child maintenance payments was received each year by parents with care in separated families in the financial years ending 2021 to 2023. Around 69% of these payments related to non-statutory child maintenance arrangements, with around 31% relating to statutory arrangements.

The majority of child maintenance payments relate to non-statutory arrangements

The total amount of child maintenance received by parents with care, by arrangement type for the financial years ending 2021 to 2023

Sources: FRS; CMS administrative data. See the accompanying tables for full data.

Notes about these statistics:

1. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
2. Child maintenance receipts for each year are converted to 2023 prices before averaging receipts over the three financial years.

Child maintenance payments reduced the net number of children living in low-income households. Overall, 160,000 children were kept out of low income on the absolute low income after housing cost measure. Most of this impact related to single parent families.

Table 1: The annual impact of child maintenance payments on the number of children in low-income households, for the financial years ending 2021 to 2023

Definition of low income	Net impact on the number of children in low-income households (thousands)
Relative low income (before housing costs) – below 60% of contemporary median household income	-140
Relative low income (after housing costs) – below 60% of contemporary median household income	-140
Absolute low income (before housing costs) – below 60% of median household income in the financial year ending 2011 held in constant real terms	-140
Absolute low income (after housing costs) – below 60% of median household income in the financial year ending 2011 held in constant real terms	-160

Source: FRS; HBAI data. See the accompanying tables for full data. Notes about Table 1:

1. Estimates are rounded to the nearest 20,000.

Relatively large numbers of children kept out of low income following child maintenance payments in the financial year ending 2021 contribute to the three-year average statistics. This arose, at least partly, from the economic impacts of COVID-19. The pandemic and the government response to its impact had a significant effect on the UK labour market and household incomes. Many businesses ceased operating or had to change their working practices, while government interventions allowed for the furloughing of workers. In addition, the requirement for social distancing changed the way individuals worked or their ability to look for and find employment and there were large increases in claims for social security benefits. From April 2020, both new and existing Universal Credit claimants and existing Working Tax Credit claimants received a temporary additional £20 per week on top of annual uprating, also known as the ‘UC Uplift’. All of these factors will have affected separated families and their incomes. This is the final year that these effects will influence these three-year average statistics.

During the financial year ending 2022, the UK economy and labour market were recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions introduced in response to it and there was a gradual reversal of COVID-19 effects that will have influenced the incomes of separated families.

The impact of statutory and non-statutory child maintenance arrangements on numbers of children in low-income households roughly reflects the proportion of these arrangement types

The annual impact of child maintenance payments on the net number of children in low-income households, by child maintenance arrangement type, for the financial years ending 2021 to 2023

Source: FRS; HBAI data. See the accompanying tables for full data.

Of the 140,000 children kept out of absolute low income on a before housing costs basis, around 40,000 were in households with a statutory arrangement and 100,000 in households with a non-statutory arrangement. Of the 160,000 children kept out of absolute low income on an after housing costs basis, around 60,000 were in households with a statutory arrangement and 100,000 in households with a non-statutory basis.

Children in separated families with a child maintenance arrangement are less likely to remain in low income than those without an arrangement

The percentage of children in parent with care households who remain in absolute low income after housing costs and child maintenance payments, by child maintenance arrangement type, for the financial years ending 2021 to 2023

Source: FRS; HBAI data. See the accompanying tables for full data.

The percentage of children in parent with care households who remain in absolute low income after housing costs and after child maintenance, is lower for those with child maintenance arrangements, with 28% of children in households with a statutory arrangement remaining in poverty and 27% of children in households with a non-statutory arrangement compared with 40% of children in households with no arrangement.

6. Estimates of the position of separated parent households in the Great Britain income distribution (and where they would be had they not paid or received child maintenance)

Considering an after housing costs basis, the equivalised incomes of individuals in non-resident parent households are more evenly spread across the equivalised income distribution for Great Britain compared with parent with care households. The equivalised income distribution of individuals in parent with care households is more skewed towards the lowest income quintiles. This situation remains largely unchanged even after child maintenance has been paid from the non-resident parent to the parent with care.

Child maintenance payments are broadly redistributive

Position of parent with care and non-resident parent households in the Great Britain income distributions before and after child maintenance, after housing costs, for the financial years ending 2021 to 2023

Source: FRS; HBAI; CMS data. See the accompanying tables for full data.

Notes about these statistics:

1. In an even distribution, each quintile would equal 20% of the population. Quintiles containing more than 20% of the population show that the population is overly represented in that part of the income distribution. For instance, a value of 38% in Q1 for parents with care before child maintenance means that 38% of this group are in the bottom 20% of the income distribution.

After child maintenance has been paid, we estimate that the percentage of individuals in parent with care households in the bottom quintile is three percentage points lower and the proportion of individuals in non-resident parent households in the top two quintiles is four percentage points lower. While child maintenance payments result in a rise in the proportion of individuals in non-resident parent households in the lowest quintile to 23%, over a third (36%) of individuals in parent with care households remain in the lowest quintile, even after child maintenance is received.

For all arrangement types, parent with care equivalised household incomes are more skewed towards the bottom of the income distribution than their non-resident parent counterparts

Position of parent with care and non-resident parent households in the Great Britain income distributions, after housing costs and after child maintenance, by arrangement type, for the financial years ending 2021 to 2023

Source: FRS; HBAI; CMS data. See the accompanying tables for full data.

The income distributions of parent with care households:

• with no arrangement tend to be heavily skewed towards the bottom of the Great Britain income distribution after housing costs and after child maintenance, with 73% in the bottom 40%
• with statutory and non-statutory arrangements also tend to be skewed towards the bottom of the distribution, but to a slightly lesser extent

The income distributions of non-resident parent households:

• with a statutory arrangement or no arrangement tend to be skewed towards the bottom of the Great Britain income distribution
• with a non-statutory arrangement tend to be slightly skewed towards the top of the income distribution after housing costs and after child maintenance, with 63% in the top 60%

7. About these statistics

As explained in paragraph 2 of this report, these statistics are now classed as ‘official statistics’ from this March 2024 publication and are produced in line with the principles of the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. 

We publish these statistics on an annual basis and will continue to expand their scope to help to meet user needs where reliable estimates can be obtained.

These Great Britain level statistics are estimates based primarily on data from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). The FRS is based on a representative sample historically comprising around 20,000 United Kingdom (UK) households. The sample for the financial year ending 2023 was around 25,000 private households, as a planned boost to the sample was partially achieved. The samples for the financial years ending 2021 and 2022 were smaller at around 10,000 and16,000 private households respectively due to impacts of COVID-19.

In addition to the sample size reductions, the composition of the FRS achieved sample changed between the financial year ending 2020 and the financial years ending 2021 and 2022. The grossing regime was adjusted to improve the representativeness of the sample in both of these years but some unknown biases remained.

While FRS fieldwork operations during the financial year ending 2023 were not identical to those before COVID-19, the use of face-to-face interviewing gradually returned throughout the year to levels more comparable to those seen pre-pandemic. The achieved sample compares well with the sample from the financial year ending 2020, and representativeness has improved compared with what was observed during the pandemic. Consequently, we have enhanced confidence in data quality, but we continue to advise users to be aware of the potential effects of COVID-19 on both the survey and individual circumstances and to interpret results with care. In particular, assessments of observed changes in the data should be made compared with both the financial year ending 2022 and with pre-pandemic trends and estimates.

More information can be found in the Separated Families Statistics background information and methodology note and the FRS Background Information and Methodology. Annex 5 in the HBAI Quality and Methodology Information Report provides more detail on the use of a mixed mode in the FRS in the financial year ending 2023, how this affected the overall FRS sample, and the degree of impact this had on the HBAI statistics.

The FRS is a continuous survey which collects information on the income, characteristics and circumstances of individuals living in a representative sample of private households in the UK. FRS respondents are asked about the relationships within their household and any child maintenance arrangements they may have. Their responses are used to determine whether they are members of a separated family, how many children are in that family, the types of child maintenance arrangements they have (if any) and the amount of maintenance they receive.

Where feasible and appropriate, FRS responses regarding child maintenance arrangements are checked for accuracy against the DWP’s CMS, and historically against CSA, administrative databases and amended in line with the administrative data.

Estimates of the total amount of child maintenance payments received by parents with care are based on a combination of administrative data and adjusted FRS data.

The HBAI methodology and data, together with FRS information on child maintenance payments, are used to obtain estimates of:

• the impact of child maintenance payments on the net number of children in low-income households
• the percentage of children who remain in low income after child maintenance
• the position of separated parent households in the Great Britain income distribution

During 2022 to 2023 the government announced and implemented additional support to families with several cost-of-living support schemes, depending on peoples’ circumstances. These payments will be included in the estimates of separated families’ incomes.

More information about the methodology used to produce these statistics and its limitations can be found in the accompanying background information and methodology note.

Rounding

Figures are rounded to the nearest 100,000, except those relating to the impact of child maintenance payments on the number of children in low-income households which are rounded to the nearest 20,000. Monetary amounts are rounded to the nearest hundred million pounds. Percentages are calculated using figures prior to rounding and are rounded to the nearest integer. Totals may not sum due to rounding.

Changes made to this publication

This release includes a methodological change to the way we calculate the net impact of child maintenance payments on the number of children living in absolute low income. We now compare both the before and after child maintenance household incomes with the absolute low-income threshold, 60% of 2010/11 median household income (after child maintenance), to determine whether that household is in low income before and after maintenance. Previously, we compared the before child maintenance household income with a hypothetical 2010/11 median, from which we had removed child maintenance payments. This meant that children in separated families with no child maintenance arrangement or children in non-separated families could be put into low income following child maintenance payments on the absolute low-income measure. While this can still happen on the relative low-income measure, this is no longer the case on the absolute measure.

An additional methodological change will partially improve the representation of non-resident parents in the existing table breakdowns by using CMS administrative data to identify more non-resident parents in the sample.

Further details on the methodology and any changes are provided in the background information and methodology note..

Planned changes

We currently expect that the grossing factors used in the FRS and HBAI will be reviewed in line with the latest censuses for England and Wales and Scotland ahead of the next publication in March 2025. This will also affect Separated Families Statistics. Further details are available in the HBAI Quality and Methodology Information Report.

Any future revisions will be notified via the Separated Families Collection Pages and also in the  DWP Statistical Work Programme and clearly indicated and explained in the relevant publication.

8. Where to find out more

More information about these statistics can be found in the accompanying Background information and methodology note and accompanying tables.

Official statistics on the statutory child maintenance arrangements administered by the Child Maintenance Service.

Experimental statistics on the Child Support Agency’s 1993 and 2003 statutory child maintenance schemes and on Child Support Agency case closure.

More information about the Child Maintenance Service.

Experimental statistics on the child maintenance arrangements made by parents who contacted Child Maintenance Options.

More information about the Family Resources Survey.

More information about the Households Below Average Income.

Feedback

Users are invited to send feedback on these statistics to: cm.analysis.research@dwp.gov.uk.

ISBN: 978-1-78659-636-9

1. Labour Force Survey estimates of lone parent numbers are used as control totals in the process of applying weights to FRS sample data so that they yield estimates for the overall population. Further details on the methodology are provided in the FRS background information and methodology note. ↩

2. Further details on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the FRS and LFS are available here: FRS background information and methodology note and Coronavirus and its impact on the Labour Force Survey – Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). ↩