Stepfamilies in the UK: What the Statistics Show

Stepfamilies are a large and settled part of family life in England and Wales. The 2021 Census counted 781,000 step-families, of which 547,000 (70.0%) contained dependent children (ONS, Census 2021, published 5 March 2024, as at July 2026, subject to change).

This is a data piece. It draws only on named official statistics, chiefly the Office for National Statistics 2021 Census, each figure cited at the point of use. It sits alongside our estate planning guide and our page on wills for blended families, because the numbers carry a practical point: the law that applies when someone dies without a will does not automatically provide for a stepchild. Figures are current as at July 2026 and are subject to change.

How many stepfamilies are there in the UK?

At the 2021 Census there were 781,000 step-families in England and Wales, and 547,000 of them, or 70.0%, contained at least one dependent child (ONS, Census 2021, published 5 March 2024, as at July 2026, subject to change). Across the population, 8.8% of dependent children, about 1.1 million, lived in a step-family that year. The Census covers England and Wales, so it is not a single UK-wide count.

A step-family, in the Census definition, is a couple family where at least one child is the child of only one member of the couple. A blended family is a narrower group within that: a step-family containing a couple and at least two children, where at least one child is related to both partners and at least one has a step-parent relationship with one of them (ONS, Census 2021 dataset, subject to change).

Key figures at a glance

Every row below is a published figure from a named source, with its reference period and a link. The table moves from the number of step-families, to how many hold dependent children, to how those children are living, and then to the rules that apply on death. In 2021 around 1.1 million dependent children, 8.8% of the total, lived in a step-family in England and Wales (ONS, Census 2021, as at July 2026, subject to change).

Step-family and children figures are for England and Wales from the 2021 Census (ONS, published 5 March 2024). Intestacy entitlement is England and Wales (Citizens Advice). All as at July 2026 and subject to change.

What a will decides for a stepfamily

For a stepfamily, a will is the document that decides whether a stepchild is provided for. Under the intestacy rules that apply when there is no valid will in England and Wales, a stepchild who was not legally adopted cannot inherit, and an unmarried partner cannot inherit either (Citizens Advice, as at July 2026, subject to change). A will lets a person decide what happens to their money, property and possessions instead of leaving it to those default rules (gov.uk, as at July 2026, subject to change).

Inheritance tax works differently. The nil-rate band is £325,000 per person and the residence nil-rate band is up to £175,000 where a home passes to direct descendants, so a couple may combine bands worth up to £1,000,000, with the standard rate of 40% charged only above the available thresholds (gov.uk, as at July 2026, subject to change). For the residence band, a direct descendant includes a step-child, an adopted child and a foster child (gov.uk, as at July 2026, subject to change), so leaving a home to a stepchild by will can still qualify. These thresholds are fixed until the end of the 2030-31 tax year (5 April 2031) (gov.uk, as at July 2026, subject to change). Because the rules can produce an outcome a person would not have chosen, many people in stepfamilies choose to make a will, and it can be worth discussing the options with a qualified professional. Our guide on How to Write a Will sets out the practical steps.

The scale of stepfamilies and the way many are formed suggest that the gap between how families live and how the default inheritance rules work is a wide one.

Two figures sit uneasily together. On the one hand, 547,000 step-families contained dependent children in 2021, and around 1.1 million dependent children lived in a step-family (ONS, Census 2021, as at July 2026, subject to change). On the other, a non-adopted stepchild and an unmarried partner each inherit nothing under the intestacy rules (Citizens Advice, subject to change). The higher share of step-family children living with cohabiting couples, 48.6% against 13.3% for non-step-families, widens that gap, since cohabitants are outside the intestacy order too (ONS, Census 2021, as at July 2026, subject to change).

These are population-level figures, not a prediction for any one family. Whether a particular arrangement leaves someone unprovided for depends on the will, the marriage or civil partnership position, how assets are held, and whether any child has been adopted. In our view the data is best read as a prompt to check who would inherit under current arrangements, rather than as a forecast. Many people choose to review their own position with a qualified professional rather than read a national statistic as a personal outcome.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

The step-family and children figures on this page are from the 2021 Census for England and Wales (ONS, as at July 2026, subject to change). Scotland ran its census in 2022 and publishes its own family statistics through National Records of Scotland, so the numbers are not directly comparable. Succession law also differs: Scotland has its own rules, including legal rights that can give a spouse and children a fixed share, and it uses confirmation rather than a grant of probate. Northern Ireland operates a separate but broadly similar system to England and Wales. Where an estate or a family touches more than one jurisdiction, it can be worth taking advice in each.

Sources and methodology

Every figure on this page comes from a named source and was checked against that source before publication. No number has been estimated, rounded beyond the source, or extrapolated. The statistics are drawn from the 2021 Census, published by the Office for National Statistics on 5 March 2024. The sources used are listed below with their reference periods.

• Step-families and dependent children: ONS, Children in families in England and Wales: Census 2021 (781,000 step-families; 547,000, or 70.0%, with dependent children; 8.8% and about 1.1 million dependent children in step-families in 2021, down from 9.7% and about 1.2 million in 2011; 12.6 million dependent children in households; 48.6% of step-family children living with a cohabiting couple against 13.3% for non-step-families; 81.6% of step-parents male; published 5 March 2024).
• Blended families definition and count: ONS, Step-families, blended families and dependent children: Census 2021 (51.6% of step-families with dependent children in households of five people or fewer were blended; blended-family definition).
• Who inherits under intestacy: Citizens Advice, who can inherit if there is no will (non-adopted stepchildren and unmarried partners not entitled; adopted children treated as children).
• Statutory legacy: The Administration of Estates Act 1925 (Fixed Net Sum) Order 2023 (£322,000, in force 26 July 2023).
• Making a will: gov.uk, make a will (a will lets you decide what happens to your money, property and possessions).
• Inheritance tax thresholds: gov.uk, inheritance tax (nil-rate band £325,000; residence nil-rate band up to £175,000; up to £1,000,000 per couple; standard rate 40%) and gov.uk, residence nil rate band (direct descendant includes a step-child, adopted child and foster child), with thresholds frozen to the end of 2030-31 per gov.uk.

Frequently asked questions