A higher proportion of children are being brought up in one-parent families in Britain than in any other major European country.
The Daily Mail reporting on the Eurostat statistics states: One in five live with a single mother of father – a far higher ratio than in France, Germany or Scandinavian countries.
And while the number of married families in the UK is among the lowest in Europe, stable cohabiting relationships are also less common here than in other countries.
The figures, produced by the EU’s statistical arm, come at a time of increased efforts to downplay the importance of marriage by politicians and campaigners who oppose tax breaks for married couples.
The figures from Luxembourg-based Eurostat suggest that strong relationships outside marriage are uncommon in Britain but that the decline of marriage has meant life with a single parent for millions of youngsters.
These children are more likely than others to suffer poor health, do badly a school, and go on to less successful adult lives.
According to the breakdown, 20.8 per cent of children in the UK were living in single parent families in 2008.
In just three countries were children more likely to live with one parent: Estonia and Latvia in Eastern Europe, and Ireland, where the number was 23.2 per cent. It is believed the surge in Ireland is a result of generous benefits to single parent families and high immigration.
The proportion of children in single-parent families in the UK is roughly 50 per cent higher than in France and 35 per cent higher than in Germany.