Spotlight
Families and households in the UK: 2019
What's in the bulletin?
- In 2019, there were 19.2 million families, an increase of 0.4% on the previous year, with a 6.8% increase over the decade from 2009 to 2019.
- The number of households grew by 0.9% since the previous year to 27.8 million in 2019, an increase of 6.8% over the last 10 years.
- Married or civil partner couples remain the most common family type in 2019, they represent two-thirds of families in the UK; Northern Ireland (72.6%) has the highest proportion of married or civil partner couples and the lowest proportion of cohabiting couples (9.4%).
Families and households statistics explained
This explainer outlines families and households definitions, classifications, uses and users of the data, common queries, and other sources of household estimates.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) roundup
Catch up on the latest data and analysis related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Datasets related to Families
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Households by type of household and family, regions of England and UK constituent countries
Labour force survey (LFS) estimates including measures of uncertainty of the number of households by types of household and families for regions of England and also Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
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Young adults living with their parents
Total number of young adults aged 15 to 34 years and total number of young adults aged 20 to 34 years in the UK living with their parents.
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Families and households
Families and children in the UK by family type including married couples, cohabiting couples and lone parents. Also shows household size and people living alone.
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Families by family type, regions of England and UK constituent countries
Labour force survey (LFS) estimates including measures of uncertainty of the number of families by specific family types, for regions of England, and also Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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Impact of reweighting on the families and households estimates
Revisions have been made to previously published estimates of families and households. This describes these changes and their impact on the estimates.
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Living alone in the UK
Data supporting the article “The cost of living alone”
Publications related to Families
Statistical bulletins
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Families and households in the UK: 2019
Trends in living arrangements including families (with and without dependent children), people living alone and people in shared accommodation, broken down by size and type of household.
Articles
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Children whose families struggle to get on are more likely to have mental disorders
Healthy family functioning and parental mental health are important elements in understanding the mental health of children.
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2011 Census analysis
Using 2011 Census data, we look at residents living in overcrowded and under-occupied households and their general health. Results show residents living in overcrowded households reported significantly higher levels of “not good” health compared with those living in under-occupied households. Young people (aged 0 to 15) were more than twice as likely to report “not good” health if they lived in overcrowded households.
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2011 Census analysis
We analyse the characteristics of those living alone within the household population aged 16 and over, and the broader usually resident population. Characteristics analysed include age and sex, housing, qualifications and ethnicity. Geographical variations of those living alone are also highlighted. In 2011, 13% of the total usually resident household population of England and Wales were living alone. This is similar to the overall proportion of those living alone within the European Economic Area (EEA) at 14%.
Methodology related to Families
Looking for local statistics?
A handy guide to let you know where to find local statistics.