ABSTRACT
During recent years, the proportion of one-parent families headed by never-married mothers has been increasing in Britain. In 1981, 19 percent of one-parent families were headed by a never-married mother, but by 1992 that proportion had increased to one-third. This increase has helped foster a policy backlash, particularly proposals to reduce state benefits which might encourage young women to become single mothers. Little has been known, however, about the demographic factors which are primarily responsible for the rise, much less the underlying social and economic factors behind them. The present paper focuses on these demographic factors.
