The bar chart illustrates the percentage of people per family in the UK in two separate years: 1981 and 2001.
Overall, the proportion of households with more than 3 people was lower in 2001 than 1981, whereas the reverse was true for the smaller ones (1 and 2 people per family). The figure for 2-person households remained dominant in both years, followed by 1-person families in 2001. 3-person households, however, lagged behind 1-person households in 2001, despite being the second-most prevalent households in 1981.
Two-person households were the largest category in 1981. The figure accounted for 31% in 1981, nearly double that of 1-person families (17%). Although the percentage of 1-person households experienced a larger change than that of 2-person ones in 2001, it was outstripped by an 8-percent difference, with respective figures of 26% and 34%.
Larger households, however, experienced a decline over this 20-year period. 3 and 4-person families made up almost the same percentages in 1981, with 18% and 20%, respectively. Both then saw a 3-percent decrease in 2001, with the former consisting of 15% compared to the latter’s 17%.
Households consisting of five and six people were relatively uncommon compared to other household sizes in the UK. The proportion of 5-person households stood at 8%, 2 percentage points higher than that of 6-person families (6%). It then decreased slightly to 6% in 2001, while 6-person homes made up a mere 2%.