The bar chart delineates the variation in accommodation preferences among students across five decades, spanning from the 1960s to the 2000s.
Overall, it is evident that the preference for living ‘at home with own family’ experienced a significant decline, while ‘students hall of residence’ and ‘room in a shared house or flat with other students’ showed an upward trajectory over the observed period.
In the 1960s, a substantial majority of students, comprising 68%, chose to live at home with their families. Concurrently, 22% opted for student halls of residence, with a mere 8% preferring to stay with host families, and only about 2% living in shared accommodations. The 1970s saw a slight reduction in the percentage of students living at home, decreasing to approximately 63%. The trend of residing in halls also diminished, falling to 17%, whereas the preference for paying guest arrangements saw a minimal rise to 9%, alongside a notable increase in shared housing which rose to about 11%.
During the 1980s, a marked transformation occurred; the number of students residing at home plummeted to 48%, while the popularity of halls increased significantly to 26%. The preference for paying guest models fell slightly to 7%, yet there was a remarkable surge in shared accommodations, which soared to nearly 19%. The 1990s continued this trend of decline for home living, tapering to 43%, and although halls experienced a slight drop to 24%, rooms in shared houses peaked at approximately 26%. By the 2000s, the percentage of students residing at home saw a modest recovery to around 45%, while halls further increased to 27%. Notably, the numbers for both paying guest arrangements remained stable at 7%, and shared living arrangements experienced a slight rise to just above 26%.