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Living Alone: Its Place in Household Formation and Change

Author

Listed:
  • Joan Chandler
  • Malcolm Williams
  • Moira Maconachie
  • Tracey Collett
  • Brian Dodgeon

Abstract

In recent decades there has been a significant rise in the numbers of people who live alone and it was predicted that by 2002 that a third of all households will be single-person households. The predicted increase has occurred with indications of continued growth in this type of living arrangement. Furthermore, although living alone remains common among older age groups, the largest growth has been within younger populations. This demographic trend has attracted speculation about the numbers of people who will experience solo living, the stability of living alone in people's biography, and the impact of gender differences in the likelihood and stability of living alone. To answers these questions, this paper uses longitudinally linked Census data from England and Wales to explore the household origins and household destinations of working age people who live alone. This longitudinal data derives from the 1971, 1981 and 1991 Censuses. The data from this analysis confirms other research demonstrating the increasingly numbers of non-retired people who live alone. Furthermore it demonstrates that once a person lives alone, they are more likely to continue to live in that household arrangement than any other and that the tendency to live alone and to continue to live alone is more likely amongst younger cohorts of people. It also demonstrates that the largest increase in living alone in amongst men, but that once women live alone they are more likely to continue to live alone. These findings have an important bearing on current debates about ‘individualisation’, the contemporary experience of family life, life course trajectories and the emergent life styles of younger populations.

Suggested Citation

  • Joan Chandler & Malcolm Williams & Moira Maconachie & Tracey Collett & Brian Dodgeon, 2004. "Living Alone: Its Place in Household Formation and Change," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 9(3), pages 42-54, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:9:y:2004:i:3:p:42-54
    DOI: 10.5153/sro.971
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jo Williams, 2007. "Innovative solutions for averting a potential resource crisis—the case of one-person households in England and Wales," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 325-354, August.
    2. Lynn Jamieson & Fran Wasoff & Roona Simpson, 2009. "Solo-Living, Demographic and Family Change: The Need to know more about men," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 14(2), pages 20-35, March.
    3. Glenn Sandström & Lena Karlsson, 2019. "The educational gradient of living alone: A comparison among the working-age population in Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(55), pages 1645-1670.
    4. Nina-Sophie Fritsch & Bernhard Riederer & Lena Seewann, 2023. "Living Alone in the City: Differentials in Subjective Well-Being Among Single Households 1995–2018," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 2065-2087, August.
    5. Jianye Liu & Juyan Wang & Roderic Beaujot & Zenaida Ravanera, 2020. "Determinants of adults’ solo living in Canada: a longitudinal perspective," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 53-71, March.
    6. Zhe Huang & Emily Ying Yang Chan & Chi Shing Wong & Benny Chung Ying Zee, 2021. "Clustering of Socioeconomic Data in Hong Kong for Planning Better Community Health Protection," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-21, November.
    7. Juliet Stone & Ann Berrington & Jane Falkingham, 2011. "The changing determinants of UK young adults' living arrangements," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 25(20), pages 629-666.
    8. Bernhard Riederer & Nina-Sophie Fritsch & Lena Seewann, 2021. "Singles in the city: happily ever after?," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 19(1), pages 319-353.

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