Almost a quarter of kids in the UK currently reside in single parent families, states a study unveiled today.
The number, 24 per cent, is treble that documented in 1972, and has increased from 21 per cent in 1997 and 22 per cent in 2001.
What's more 66 per cent stay in rented accommodation, compared to 22 per cent of people with children, discloses the Office for National Statistics Social Trends document.
Of those, 29 per cent resided in property that did not pass the minimum accepted requirements of living, while nine out of 10 had mums as head of the family.
Since 1971, "traditional couples" with children have decreased from 52 to 37 per cent.
And the proportion of paired up people residing together with no offspring increased from 19 to 25 per cent.
The ONS is quoted as saying in the Mirror newspaper: "Recent decades have seen marked changes in households."