One-person households

Question 1

Are more or less people living in couples ?

Answer 1

Less
-there has been a big rise in the number of people living alone

Question 2

Statistics for the number of people living alone

Answer 2

in 2006
almost 3 in 10 households (6.8milly people)
contained only one person

nearly 3x the figure for 1961

Question 3

Age statistics of one-person households

Answer 3

half of all one-person households are people of pensionable age
-pensioner one-person households have doubled since 1961
-while those of non/ pensioners triples

-men under 65 were most likely to live aline w. particularly large increase in the number of young men living alone

Question 4

Reasons for the increase in one-person households

Answer 4

-increase in separation and divorce
-decline in number marrying
-Peter Stein (1976) opting of ‘creative singlehood’
-fewer partners available in age group

Question 5

Increase in separation and divorce

Answer 5

-lead to increase of 1PH
-especially among men under 65

usually because after divorce children most likely to live with their mother and father more likely to leave the home

Question 6

Decline in number marrying

Answer 6

and trends towards people marrying later, mean more people are remaining single
-proportion of adults who are single has risen about half since 1971

Question 7

Peter Stein (1976) ‘creative singlehood’

Answer 7

-growing number of people opting for ‘creative singlehood’
-deliberate choice to live alone

Question 8

Fewer partners available in age group

Answer 8

-not all deliberately chose to live alone
- might just be fewer partners available in age group

-mainly older widows

Question 9

Living apart together - Who did research on
‘LATs’ ?

Answer 9

Simon Duncan and Miranda Phillips for the British Social Attitudes Survey
(Thomson et al, 2008)

Question 10

What did Simon Duncan and Miranda Phillips for the British Social Attitudes Survey
(Thomson et al, 2008) find?

Answer 10

that about 1/10 adults are LAT- that is, in a significant RS, but not married or cohabitating.

It has been suggested that this may reflect a trend towards less formalised relationships and ‘families of choice’

Question 11

Who found that other factors play a role in whether couples live together?

Answer 11

Duncan and Phillips

Question 12

Duncan and Phillips

Answer 12

found that both CHOICE and CONSTRAINT play a part in whether couples live together

e.g-
may not be able to afford to
minority want to keep their own home

Question 13

Public attitudes towards LATs

Answer 13

favourable
-majority believe that ‘ a couple do not need to live together to have a strong rs’

while 20% saw LATs as their ‘ideal rs’

Question 14

Duncan and Phillips conclusion

Answer 14

that LATs are not seen as abnormal
-probably does not amount to a rejection of more traditional relationships