Changing Patterns of Family Life: Diversity of Family Structures

Is There a Typical Family Structure?

- Structural theories suggest that a typical family structure exists and that this structure is closely linked to the nuclear family.

- Other theorists have suggested that there has been a growth in family diversity in recent years and that we can no longer say there is a typical family type.

Family Diversity Statistics (ONS 2019)

- In 2019, there were 19.2 million families, a 6.8% increase over the decade from 2009 and 2019.

- Married or civil partner couples remain the most common family type in 2019, they represent two-thirds of coupled families in the United Kingdom.

- There were 2.9 million lone-parent families in 2019, which is 14.9% of families in the United Kingdom.

- London has the highest proportion while the South West of England has the lowest.

- The number of people living alone has increased by a fifth over the last 20 years, driven mainly by increases in men aged 45 to 64 years living alone.

- Scotland has the highest proportion of one-person households at 35.0%, while London has the highest at 23.9%.

- Households containing multiple families were the fastest growing type of households over the last two decades, having increased…