Asian families more likely to be led by married couple compared to white British families

A review published yesterday by Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner for England, has found that there are fewer ‘traditional’ nuclear family units in the UK.

To tackle ethnic disparities, and as part of Inclusive Britain, (the Government’s response to the 2021 Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities) - the Children’s Commissioner was asked to undertake an Independent Review into family life.

She had been invited by the Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Equalities to undertake an independent review into contemporary family life in Britain.

The review shows that families of Asian descent, including those with Chinese, Indian, Bangladeshi, or Pakistani heritage, are far more likely to be headed by a married couple.

The data of family structure by ethnicity (as part of the review) shows that Asian and Asian British (mixed ethnicity) families were most likely to be in a traditional family set-up.

For instance, 87% of Indian families were found to be in the "married or civil partnership" category and only 11% of Indian families were headed by a single parent.

For mixed ethnicities (White & Asian) 74% of the families were found to be in the "married or civil partnership" category while 18% were headed by a single parent and 8% were found to be cohabiting.

Other Asian families found to be mostly in the married or civil partnership category include Pakistanis (80%), Bangladeshi (88%), Chinese (82%) and other Asian backgrounds (84%).

The review shows that of the 8.2 million families with children in the UK, 23% are headed by a single parent and about 90 per cent of such parents are women.

The review also highlights significant differences by ethnicity - 57% of black Caribbean and 44% of black African families were found to be lone parents in comparison with 22% for white British families.

Also, according to the current review, it was found that a total of 49% of children in lone-parent families were in relative poverty after housing costs compared with 25% of children living in married or cohabiting families.

Additionally, about 63% of families were found to be married couples with children (a decrease of 2% in recent years) while 14% are cohabiting couples (a rise of 3%).

Considering that the review has found evidence that family life is a key factor in many of the disparities in children’s outcomes, De Souza has reportedly urged the government to centre policy on families, before the new prime minister is appointed next week - she will also be revising the “family test”, which is applied to all new domestic laws and policies, to put families “at the heart” of policymaking.