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Written question asked by Dan Jarvis (Labour) on Thursday, 11 July 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 15 July 2019. It was answered by Tobias Ellwood (Conservative) on Wednesday, 17 July 2019 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Armed Forces

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of the size of the (a) regular armed forces community and (b) reserve armed forces community including the partners, spouses and children of people serving in the armed forces.

Answer

The requested information is provided below:

Number of Service Personnel and Estimate of the Number of Children and Marital Status as at 1 April 2019

Number of Service Personnel

Estimated Number of children

Estimated Numbers Married or in a Civil Partnership

UK Regular Forces1

144,430

48,160

62,680

Future Reserves 20202

36,400

10,610

14,380

Total

180,830

58,770

77,060

Notes:

1. Figures exclude Gurkhas, Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve, Military Provost Guard Service, Locally Engaged Personnel and elements of the Full-time Reserve Service (FTRS).

  1. Future Reserves 2020 includes volunteer reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reserves and Volunteer Reserve personnel serving on Additional Duties Commitment or FTRS contracts. Non Regular Permanent Staff, Expeditionary Forces Institute and University Officer Cadets and Regular Reservists are excluded.
  1. Figures for the number of children and marital status are estimates as the data is self-declared and has not been verified by Defence Statistics.
  1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, figures ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest 20 to avoid systematic bias.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
276190
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Children Armed forces Families Reserve forces
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk