A report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) describes the number of one-person households in England increasing by 26 per cent between 2016 and 2041.
Specifically, the data shows that there were 7 million households of this type in 2016, with a projection of this number increasing to 8.9 million in 25 years’ time.
Further trends projected include the number of people aged 90 and over more than doubling within the same time frame, from 241,073 to 587,724, while the number of households with dependent children will remain consistent at around the 6.5 million mark.
The fastest growth in one-person households, reports the ONS, is likely to take at the 90 and over range, and chiefly for men. However, the bulk of such households is projected to still be made up on women, who in 2041, may consist of 388,960 households out of the over half million number mentioned earlier.
These projections are part of the second stage of the 2016-based household projections release, with the first having been published in late September of this year.
As in the original release, the ONS goes to great pains to point out that these projections are not forecasts, rather a logical extrapolation of past growth rates. The projections do not take factors such as changing government policy or the macroeconomic picture into account.
ONS centre for ageing and demography statistician Joanna Harkrader says: “These figures reflect the potential impact of an ageing population and lower numbers of children being born on future living arrangements.”
