In 2019, one child aged under 18 in eight lived in a family where neither parent was in employment; in single parent families, the figure was more than one in three. This situation is more closely associated with a high risk of child poverty than the number of siblings or social background.

In “traditional” or blended families, an increasing number of children live with two parents in employment (two thirds in 2019), and a decreasing number with one parent in employment with the other being inactive.

An increasing number of children live in single parent families, the situation which has become the most widespread over the past fifteen years being where one child lives with a single parent in employment: this was the situation for 14% of all children in 2019, compared with 9% in 2003.

With the increase in the level of qualification needed for employment, children increasingly live in families of predominantly managerial or intermediate professions.

It is more common in managerial families than in other families for parents to work over 40 hours a week and to work at home, either by teleworking or by spending more time at their workplace. Where parents are employees, it is more common for them to work on Sunday or at night and where they are manual workers, to work shifts.