British family life….but not as we know it

Latest research from MINTEL finds that as many as 35% of British parents now live as a ‘non-traditional’ family unit, because they are single parents (19%) or because they have children from previous relationships (16%) living with them. This means that today around 5 million British parents have a ‘non-traditional’ family life. The remaining two-thirds (65%) of parents are ‘traditional’ married or cohabiting couples, living with children only from this current relationship. The research from this report, MINTEL’s first major study into the make-up of British families, finds that parents of ‘non-traditional’ families are more likely to suffer the financial strains of running a household. Today, almost three in ten (27%) parents in ‘non-traditional’ families worry about paying the bills, compared to just 16% of those in ‘traditional’ families. And again when it comes to outstanding debt, such as mortgages and loans, those in ‘non-traditional’ families (20%) are more likely than those in ‘traditional’ families (16%) to worry about the amount they owe.