Rise in number of children excluded from school

Almost 10,000 children in Britain were permanently excluded from
school in 2000/2001, according to the latest statistics,
writes Clare Jerrom.

This was a 10 per cent rise from the previous year, but the
figure was still lower than in 1998/99 when around 11,000 children
were permanently excluded.

Nearly five times as many boys than girls were excluded in
2000/2001, the figures from the Office for National Statistics
found.

The ‘Social Focus in Brief’, which concentrated on children,
found that nearly six per cent of all 16-year-old boys in England
and Wales were found guilty of, or cautioned for, indictable
offences in 2000, compared with 1.5 per cent of girls of the same
age.

The research also highlighted that more children are living in
single parent families. Around 20 per cent of children lived in
lone parent families in 2001 compared with 12 per cent 20 years
earlier.

In 2000/2001 57 per cent of children in lone parent households
lived in social rented housing. Twelve per cent of children living
in single parent households lived in overcrowded conditions
compared to eight per cent of children in couple households.

Social Focus in Brief: Children is available from www.statistics.gov.uk