Single parents balloon 33% to 81,705

Even single fathers surged 24.3%.

According to the Census & Statistics Department, the number of single parents increased continuously from 61,431 in 2001 to 81,705 in 2011.

According to the results of the 2011 Population Census, the number of single mothers grew by 35.6% from 47,215 in 2001 to 64,040 in 2011, while the number of single fathers increased by 24.3% to 17,665.

Single parents were defined as mothers or fathers who have never married, widowed, divorced or separated, living with children under 18 in the same household. The definition was expanded for the 2011 survey to include mothers or fathers who were never married, and they accounted for 2,971 and 4,861 single parents in 2001 and 2011.

In 2011 there were 47,717 working single parents, consisting of 12,407 working single fathers and 35,310 working single mothers. Of these, 26.7% were engaged as service and sales workers, 19.7% were unskilled workers and 17.3% were clerical support workers.

Nearly 80% of single parents were living alone with their children in 2011, with 52.4% living in public rental housing and 37.8% in private permanent housing.

The average number of dependent children was 1.3, and most single parents lived with one dependent child.