The cost of living alone

As the number of one-person households continues to rise, recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) analysis reveals the financial situation and personal well-being of those living alone:

• People living alone are more likely to be renting, and feel less financially secure than couples without children, with fewer reporting they have money left over at the end of the week or month.
• People living on their own spend an average of 92% of their disposable income, compared with two-adult households who spend only 83% of theirs.
• And the costs are not just financial: when it comes to wellbeing, those living on their own report lower levels of happiness and higher levels of anxiety than those living together with a partner and no children.

Proportion of household disposable income spent on housing costs, by household type, household reference persons aged 25 to 64 years, UK, financial year ending 2018:

Note: % of disposable income spent on rent or mortgage is the average paid by those who rent, or those who own their home with a mortgage, respectively.

Living alone set to increase

• More and more of people in the UK are living alone. The number of people living on their own went up by 16% to 7.7 million between 1997 and 2017, while the UK population increased by only 13%. By 2039, the number of one-person households is projected to rise to 10.7 million.
• The rise in the number of people living alone is largely concentrated in older age groups:
  – While the number of people aged 25 to 44 living alone has fallen by 16% between 1997 and 2017,
  – the number of 45 to 64-year-olds living on their own has increased by 53% over the same period.
• The 53% increase is partly due to the large number of children born in the 1960s reaching this age, but may also be down to a change in our relationships; more people in this age group are divorced or single than there were 15 years ago.

Source: https://www.techlink.co.uk/

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