Committee on One Parent Families (Finer Committee)

Papers of the Committee on One Parent Families (Finer Committee), 1966-1974, comprising Committee meeting minutes and background papers, 1969-1974; Committee papers, 1969-1973; documents circulated to the Committee members, 1969-1974; minutes and papers of the Research Sub-Committee, 1970-1972; evidence files, 1969-1974, containing evidence presented to the Finer Committee by Citizens Advice Bureaux, local authorities, charities and individuals; papers collated by the Committee relating to government responses to the needs of one parent families, 1969-1974, including Hansard correspondence, a DHSS study of deserted wives claiming benefits, and replies to a questionnaire sent to the governments of Norway, Belgium, Denmark, West Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Sweden and the UK; subject files, 1966-1973, containing material gathered on specific topics, such as marriage, the National Children's Bureau, income and maintenance, social security provision in other European countries, cohabitation, and family law.

The Committee on One Parent Families (Finer Committee) was established by Richard (Howard Stafford) Crossman, Secretary of State for Social Services, on 6 November 1969, to consider the problems of one parent families and what help could be given them. The Chair was the Hon Sir Morris Finer (1917-1974). The Report of the Committee (Cmnd 5629) was presented to Barbara Anne Castle, Secretary of State for Social Services, in July 1974. The Committee gathered material through the research projects of universities, government departments and charities, as well as the Department of Health and Social Services and its own research assistants. It also collected evidence from organisations and individuals, a request for which was published in the national press of November 1969. Professor Richard Morris Titmuss, Professor of Social Administration at LSE, was a member of the Committee until his death in 1973.

Arranged in sections as follows: committee minutes, committee papers, circulated documents, research sub-committee documents, evidence files, government evidence files, and subject files.

Open, though some confidential files remain closed. Apply to Archivist for details.

Temporary handlist and on-line catalogue available.

Sources: British Library of Political and Economic Science catalogue. Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the AIM25 project.

Copyright retained by the donors and their heirs. Most documents may be photocopied.

The unpublished papers of Sir Morris Finer were deposited by the family in 1975. The papers relating to the Committee collected by Titmuss were given by Professor Brian Abel-Smith in 1977.

The BLPES holds material relating to the Committee on One Parent Families in the papers of Professor Richard Morris Titmuss (Ref: Titmuss/2/233 and 4/632-640).