Nursery World - The number of lone-parent families in Northern Ireland

The number of lone-parent families in Northern Ireland has more than doubled in the past 20 years from 11 per cent of families with dependent children in 1983 to 24 per cent today, according to data from the Continuous Household Survey, published by the Central Survey Unit of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. A separate set of statistics based on the school census and published by the Department of Education showed that of a total of 14,014 children in pre-school education, 3,712 are in nursery schools full-time, while 3,831 are full-time in nursery classes. Of the nearly 6,000 children in funded pre-school education places, most - nearly 4,500 - are part-time in playgroups, while there are nearly 5,000 children in special schools.

A separate set of statistics based on the school census and published by the Department of Education showed that of a total of 14,014 children in pre-school education, 3,712 are in nursery schools full-time, while 3,831 are full-time in nursery classes. Of the nearly 6,000 children in funded pre-school education places, most - nearly 4,500 - are part-time in playgroups, while there are nearly 5,000 children in special schools.

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