The provided stacked bar graphs elucidate how many people per household, in proportion, in the United Kingdom between two distinct years: 1981 and 2001.
Overall, between 1981 and 2001, smaller family sizes (single and two-person households) became increasingly common at the expense of larger ones. Notably, it was two-member families that consistently ranked first, while one-individual households recorded the most remarkable increase.
Regarding solo and two-person family units, positive patterns were documented in the case of both types of household. In 1981, 31% of total investigated family units in the UK were 2-individual families, which experienced slight growth of 3 percentage points 20 years later, solidifying its position as the most common domestic unit throughout. Similarly but to a lesser extent, the proportion of solo dwellers documented a considerable rise of 9%, from 17% to 26% within the same period of time.
Concerning the larger family sizes, in 1981, the share of three-member families accounted for one-fifth of the overall surveyed households, followed by a subsequent 3-percentage-point fall in the final year, ranking it as the third most prevalent kind of family unit. Whereas, 4-individual residential units mirrored this trend, dropping by 3 percentage points, from 18% to 15% during a given time frame. Finally, the figures for 5 and 6 members per household started at 8% and 6% and ended at 6% and 2%, respectively.