Home Alone?

Picture Prompt 2 used.

Home Alone?

What does the term 'Home Alone' mean to you? Perhaps it's a film about a small boy defending his home from burglars after being left at home by his family. For many people though, home alone is the reality of living on their own. Since 1971, the percentage of the British population who live alone has more than doubled, from 6% to 13% - representing nearly a third of all UK households. Who are these people, why do they live alone, and how does this impact British society?

Who?

The largest category of people who live alone are women over 65, mostly because women tend to live longer than men, and thus outlive their husbands. These are among the most vulnerable of our home aloners, particularly those in the lower income brackets who struggle to live on meagre state pensions.



Elderly women may be the largest category of people living alone, but the biggest increase is among men aged 25 to 44. In the last 30 years, the proportion of men in this age category living alone has tripled, from 5% to 15%. By comparison, only 8% of women aged 25-44 live alone. The reason for the marked difference between men and women is because women enter relationships and marry earlier - perhaps men are too shy and don't form relationships as quickly! Both well off and lower paid people live alone, despite living alone being significantly more expensive than co-habiting. In fact, young and middle aged people living alone are a lot more likely to be unemployed than people living with others.

Why?

So why do people choose to live alone? As already mentioned, elderly people, are most likely to live alone because their children have flown the nest and their spouses have passed away. It's in the younger age group that there are differing reasons for living alone. A large number of people choose to live alone, often as a rite of passage, to gain independence and learn more about themselves. Another reason people choose to live alone is due to moving jobs - this is particularly significant in larger cities which many young people move to for work reasons.



The other major reason people below retirement age choose to live alone is following a relationship break up. Again, by far the largest proportion in this category are men - probably because following a break up the woman usually raises the children, thus not living alone. Choosing to live alone following a relationship break up is not exactly a free choice - often people don't feel they want to live with strangers at that stage in their life and all of their close friends are in relationships and have families.



So are all the people living alone happy with their situation? I'm thinking here of people below 65. The results of different surveys suggest that women are significantly more likely to be happy with their situation than men. Women like the freedom, independence and (if following a break up) the absence of men! Men on the other hand, particularly following a marriage break up, find it hard to adjust to living alone and are a lot less likely to be happy. Whether this is because they no longer have a woman to do the cooking, cleaning, ironing and other household tasks is uncertain, but likely to be the case at least for some! Women are also a lot more likely to visit family and friends more often as a result of living alone - men, it seems, are less good at socialising.

Impact on Society

So what effect does this have on society? Firstly, the majority of people that live alone do seem to enjoy it and while many see it as temporary, those people are a lot more likely to live alone again later in life, as a result of moving jobs or relationship break ups. The incidence of people living alone in Britain is on the increase, and by 2021, it is estimated that at least 35% of households will have single occupancy. Because of rising costs of living, and the proportionately greater expensive of living alone, the increase in solo living is giving rise to a greater inequality in this country. As well as being a lot less likely to be in employment, there is a higher incidence of mental illness in those living alone, and they spend significantly less on healthcare.



The economic and social effects of increasing solo living are also significant, notwithstanding the greater inequality described above. While those living alone are a lot less likely to own their own home, they are causing an increase in the demand for housing which is one of the factors which has been pushing up house prices to dangerously high levels in recent years. The environmental impact  cannot be discounted either: people living alone consume more gas and electricity than people who live with others. They are a lot more likely to drive alone without passengers, thus using more fuel per head than those in a family who are more likely to drive together.



All of this isn't to say that an increase in solo living is altogether bad for Britain. It changes the social make up of the country, but particularly women who live alone are more likely to see more of friends and family, and people who live alone on average donate more to charity, despite a comparatively lower disposable income. It is certainly going to continue to increase demand for housing, and more and more blocks of city centre flats are going to be built, and warehouses and factories will be converted into cheap, compact housing. Good or bad however, solo living is here to stay.

Word count: 956 words.

Sources

Focus on Families - Office for National Statistics report (2005)
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_compendia/fof2005/families.pdf

Unilever Family Report 2005: Home Alone? (Institute for Public Policy Research)
http://www.ippr.org/publicationsandreports/publication.asp?id=317