The Department for Work and Pensions has released its Parental Conflict Indicator statistics 2011 to 2022. These data, published every two years, measure the proportion of children living with both parents where at least one parent reports relationship distress, and the proportion of children in separated families who see their non-resident parent regularly.
The main findings in the latest release are that:
- 10% of children in couple-parent families had at least one parent who reported relationship distress in 2021-22, compared to 12% in 2019-20 – but the DWP says “we do not believe there is yet sufficient evidence to confirm a reduction in the level of parental relationship distress in the general population”.
- 56% of children in separated families see their non-resident parent regularly, according to data from 2021-22. This is an increase of 5 percentage points since 2015-16.
Understanding Society collects data about relationship quality by asking a series of questions about day-to-day behaviour, including:
- Overall, how happy are you with your relationship?
- How often do you work together on a project?
- How often do you and your partner quarrel?
These can then be compared to answers about children’s emotions and behaviour, parental mental health, and the likelihood of separation in the following year of the survey. Adults are also asked whether they have a child under 20 whose other parent does not live with them – with follow-up questions about how often the child ‘usually sees’ the other parent.
Research using Understanding Society published last year found that children who experience parental separation or their mother’s new partner joining the family have the lowest levels of mental health. However, the paper states: “children of never partnered mothers and those who repartner with the biological father have comparable mental health to children of stably married biological parents. Thus, not all types of family complexity or instability appear to be equally detrimental to children’s mental health.”
Find out more about the DWP’s use of Understanding Society
Read the research paper, Diverse Early-Life Family Trajectories and Young Children’s Mental Health in the UK
This research used This research used Understanding Society Waves 5, 7, 11, and 13
Family and householdsFindings and impactInforming Policy
