In other statistics issued on the occasion of the International Day of Families, it was reported that there are an estimated 3,310 single parent households. The most popular names for boys and girls born in 2002 were Matthew and Nicole.

Marriages

There were 2,350 marriages in 2003, compared to 1,747 in 1950.

Civil marriages stood at 509, compared to 48 in 1975, the majority of which included foreign nationals marrying foreign partners.

There were 705 pending cases in front of Family Court up till April, with 142 new cases filed between January and April.

The number of annulments shot up to 174 in 2003, compared with three in 1980. The number of annulments in 2003 was nearly as many as the total of the previous three years – 57 in 2000, 42 in 2001 and 70 in 2002.

The NSO said there was an increase of 0.4 per cent in separated individuals between 1995 and 2003.

The estimated duration of a separation or annulment case is two years.

Single mother households

There are an estimated 3,310 single parent households, out of which 2,500 are single mother households (Household Budgetary Survey 2000/1).

The number of single mother households amounted to two per cent of the total private household population and 10.2 per cent of households with a female head of household.

The average gross household income for households whose head is a single mother was estimated at Lm5,669, compared with Lm8,252 for other households. This lower income is a result of lower activity rate within single mother households where only 25.2 per cent were gainfully occupied, compared with 61.9 per cent for other households.

Additionally, 43.8 per cent of people living within such households were below the at-risk-of-poverty rate, compared with 14.3 per cent for other households.

Poverty

Nearly 15 per cent of people residing in private households are below the at-risk-of-poverty line (Household Budgetary Survey 2000/1).

Over 53 per cent of people who fell under the at-risk-of-poverty line had completed up to a secondary level of education.

The at-risk-of-poverty rate varies between 20.7 per cent in the Southern Harbour district and 8.7 per cent in the Western District.

The average disposable income for households below the at-risk-of-poverty line stood at Lm2,876, compared with Lm8,677 for all households.

Names

Matthew and Nicole were the most popular names given to babies born in 2002. A total of 5.5 per cent of the boys born that year were called Matthew/Matthias or Matteo, followed by Luke/Luca (3.7 per cent) and Jacob/Jake (3.1 per cent). Nicole (4.8 per cent) was followed closely by Maria/Mariah (4.7 per cent) and Christina/Krista (2.9 per cent).

Matthew is the most popular name for people aged between zero and 19 years, while Joseph is the most popular for all other ages.

Mary dominates the female names right through all age groups.

Family structure

The average number of children per family is 1.9 (Lifestyle Survey 2003).

The average age of mothers at the time of their first-born is 25.3 years.

A decreasing birth rate is linked to an increase in income and loans, an increasing standard of education and a higher activity rate among females: 6.6 babies were born for every Lm1 million earned in the form of disposable income in 1994, going down to 3.6 in 2002; 32.4 babies were born for every million borrowed in the form of loans in 1994, going down to 7.7 in 2002; 11 babies were born for every female graduate in 1994, going down to four in 2002.

Possessions

Families use an average 1.27 cars, ranging from 1.13 in families residing in the Southern Harbour district to 1.53 in families residing in the Northern district.

A total of 98.9 per cent of families own at least one television, 99 per cent own at least one gas or electric cooker, 95.1 per cent own at least one washing machine, 92.9 per cent own at least one gas or electric water heater.

Income

Families earned an estimated Lm1.1 billion, or an average of Lm8,563, in the form of disposable income in 2002, some Lm364 million more than in 1994. In 2000, net salaries amounted to 59.8 per cent of the total disposable income earned by families (HBS 2000/1). In 2000, families in the Southern Harbour district earned least, with an average disposable income of Lm7,030.