Households
A household may contain a single person living alone, or two or more people who
usually live together and share facilities, either as families (couples, parents
with children), or groups of individuals flatting together. There were 1.3
million households in New Zealand at the 2001 Census, an increase of 23 percent over the number recorded in 1986.
Twenty-seven percent of households contained couples without children in 2001,
30 percent contained two-parent families with children, 12 percent were one-parent
family households, 2 percent contained more than one family, 5 percent comprised
a group of individuals and 23 percent were
one-person households.
Figure P4 Distribution of households, by household type, 1986–2001
Source: Statistics New Zealand
Couple-only and one-person households are the fastest growing household
types and are projected to increase the most over the next 15 years. Population
ageing is the major factor behind both of these changes. But declining fertility
and the closing gap between male and female life expectancy are also contributing
to the rising number of couples without children, while delayed marriage, divorce
and changing lifestyle preferences are contributing to the growing number of
one-person households.
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