Often it is the mother from a single parent family,' says Oliver.

Most importantly, Jesse was getting used to a single parent family, her father.

Clearly a lone parent family has only one adult to support, while a married couple have two.

More than one child in three is born into a single parent family.

How many live with both parents or in a one parent family?

Table 2 shows the number of these different parent families between 1971 and 1986.

Between 1976 and 1986 the total number of one parent families increased by 35 per cent.

About ten per cent of one parent families are headed by men.

The school, however, was successful in enrolling children from single parent families.

But a support group for one parent families says spending the money is justified.