The dynamics of lone mothers’ incomes: public and private income sources compared: report to the Department of Social Security

Abstract

The report examines the dynamics of lone mothers' income packages. It complements analysis of the dynamics of private income sources, namely maintenance income (child support from the non-resident father) and labour earnings, with analysis of the receipt of cash social security benefits, namely Income Support, Family Credit and Housing Benefit, thereby allowing us to compare the stability from one year to the next of private and public income sources. The first part of the report analyses the stability of each of these types of income receipt, and the second relates changes in the composition and level of total household income to movements into and off receipt of each type. The analysis is based on a sample comprising women in the first six waves of the British Household Panel Survey (covering 1991-6) who were observed as lone mothers at two or more consecutive annual interviews.