9.2 Living with Children

Figures in relation to inmates’ children was drawn largely from IOMS data entered during inmate induction interviews, with additional information gathered on census day (for more information on data collection issues, see Section 17 below). Of interest was the number of inmates who were caring for dependent children prior to entering prison.

Thirty five percent of female and twelve percent of male sentenced inmates were recorded as having child custodial dependents at the time of their imprisonment.

Table 9-2 Sentenced inmates with child custodial dependents at imprisonment

Child custodial dependents	Female		Male		Total
Child custodial dependents	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
0	169	64.5	3765	77.9%	3934	77.2%
1	36	13.7	232	4.8%	268	5.3%
2	24	9.2	145	3.0%	169	3.3%
3	17	6.5	95	2.0%	112	2.2%
4	9	3.4	45	0.9%	54	1.1%
5	3	1.1	32	0.7%	35	0.7%
6+	3	1.1	26	0.5%	29	0.6%
Not recorded	1	0.4	493	10.2%	494	9.7%
Total	262	100.0%	4833	100.0%	5095	100.0%

Note that the data relates to the number of inmates and not to children. For example, there were 112 sentenced inmates who each had three child custodial dependents at the time of imprisonment.