Policy Hub
On 27 November 2006, the Christian charity Care published a research paper (Families compared 2006/07) which presents provisional results from an analysis of the disposable incomes, after housing costs, in 2006/07 of 98 couples with children on low or modest incomes. The paper compares the incomes where the couples are living-together and living-apart. Separate figures are shown where maintenance payments are made by the non-resident parent (NRP).
Where no maintenance payments are made, 70 of the couples were found to be better-off living apart - on average by £64 per week - even after the additional housing costs were taken into account. Where maintenance payments are made 61 couples were found to be better-off living apart - in this case by an average of £48 per week
The paper says that there is a significant cost to the Treasury resulting from couples living-apart, whether this results in a family break-up or the couple deciding not to live together in the first place.
The Research Paper can be viewed on the CARE
website: