Families and households in the UK: 2025

• In 2025, there were 29.0 million households in the UK, 66.8% of which contained one family (a couple with or without children or a lone parent living with at least one child).

• Around 8.6 million people (29.5% of all households) lived alone, a similar proportion to 10 years ago; however, nearly half of those living alone (49.6%) were aged 65 years and over, an increase from 46.9% in 2015. 

• Young adults aged 20 to 34 years were more likely to live with parents in 2025 compared with 2015 (28.7% and 25.4% of young adults, respectively); the main contribution to this increase was among young males (34.9%) rather than young females (22.3%) in 2025.

• Married couples (with and without children) made up two-thirds of families in 2025 (65.3%), a decrease compared with 2015 (66.6%); this is because of small rises in other family types, including lone-parent, cohabiting couple, and civil partner couple families. 

• Lone-parent families were more likely to contain non-dependent children in 2025 (38.9%) than in 2015 (34.9%); the main contribution to this increase was lone-mother families with non-dependent children (31.4% and 27.2% of all lone-parent families in 2025 and 2015, respectively).

• In 2025, 15.4% of lone parents were lone fathers, a slight increase from 14.4% in 2015; however, this is not a statistically significant change.

This bulletin focuses on UK data. Throughout, we have compared 2025 estimates and/or percentages to previous years and between different groups. Such comparisons are statistically significant, unless we have stated otherwise. The accompanying datasets also show data for England, Scotland, and Wales, as well as the regions of England.

There were an estimated 29.0 million households in the UK in 2025. This is an increase of 7.2% from 27.0 million households in 2015. This is the same as UK population growth in the latest 10-year period with published data available (2014 to 2024), which was 7.2%. View more information in our United Kingdom population mid-year estimate time series.

Figure 1: Most households contained either one family or one person in 2025

Household type as a percentage of all households, UK, 2025

Notes:

1. One-family households include households with one family and other individuals (related or unrelated), for example, a married couple living with a lodger. 
2. Totals do not sum to exactly 100% because of rounding.

Figure 1 shows that one-family households accounted for two in three (66.8%) UK households in 2025. Families include couples, both with and without children, and lone parents who live with their dependent and/or non-dependent children. For more information on dependent and non-dependent children, please see Section 8: Glossary.

One-person households accounted for almost one in three households (29.5%). For more information on one-person households, see Section 3: People living alone. Very small proportions of households contained two or more unrelated adults (2.8%) or two or more families (0.8%).

The average UK household size was 2.36 residents per household in 2025.

There were 8.6 million people living alone in the UK in 2025. This was an increase of 10.7% (from 7.7 million in 2015), however, this was not statistically significant when accounting for population increase. This equated to 29.5% of households in 2025 and 28.6% in 2015.

Figure 2: Half of people living alone were aged 65 years or over in 2025

Age distribution of people living alone, UK, 2015 and 2025

Figure 2 shows that around half (49.6%) of all people living alone in 2025 were aged 65 years or over, compared with 46.9% in 2015. The proportion of people aged under 65 years living alone decreased between 2025 (50.4%) and 2015 (53.1%).

The main contribution to the increase in people living alone is from the population aged 65 years and over, which is reflected in our ageing population. Read about the Profile of the older population living in England and Wales in 2021 and changes since 2011. Of people aged 65 years and over who live alone, a higher proportion were females (63.9%) compared with males (36.1%), possibly because of higher life expectancy for females.

Young adults are more likely to live with their parent(s) in 2025 than they were in 2015. In 2025, 7.2 million young adults (aged 15 to 34 years) lived with their parents compared with 6.6 million people in 2015 (42.4% and 39.7% of all young adults, respectively). Among those aged 20 to 34 years, this increased to 28.7% in 2025 from 25.4% in 2015 (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: More young adults lived with their parent(s) in 2025 than in 2015, with males more likely than females to live with their parents

Young adults living in families with their parent(s) as a percentage of all young adults living in households, by sex and age group, UK, 2015 and 2025

Notes:

1. Once a person either lives with a partner or has a child, they are considered to have formed their own family and are no longer counted as being part of their parents' family even if they still live in the same household. Therefore, such people are deemed to be not living with their parents here. 
2. The term "parent" could include grandparents, step-parents or lone parents.

The increase in young adults living with their parents at older ages in recent years is part of a trend of adults reaching milestones later in life. It may be explained by several factors, including increased housing costs. Read more in our Milestones: journeying through modern life article and More adults living with their parents article.

The proportions of both young adult males and females living at home have increased since 2015 (Figure 3). However, this increase is only statistically significant in young adult males in 2025 (34.9% of all males aged 20 to 34 years in households) compared with 2015 (30.5%). These trends and the patterns in statistical significance are the same for young adult males and females aged 15 to 34 years.

At most ages, young males were more likely to be living with their parents than females (Figure 4), but these sex differences were typically not statistically significant. However, these were statistically significant when grouped, with one-third of males living with their parents, compared with less than a quarter of females in 2025 (34.9% and 22.3%, respectively).

There were an estimated 19.9 million families in the UK in 2025, which is an increase of 6.0% from 18.7 million in 2015.

This bulletin covers families living in households, which covers the majority of families. The survey data do not include families living in communal establishments, such as couples living in care homes.

Figure 5: Married couple families were the most common family type in 2025

Percentage of families by type, UK, 2015 and 2025

Notes:

1. Married couple families include both opposite-sex and same-sex married couples in 2025. Same-sex marriages have been available since 2014.  
2. Civil-partnered couple families include both opposite-sex and same-sex couples in 2025. Opposite-sex civil partnerships have been available since 2019.  
3. Totals do not sum to exactly 100% because of rounding.

Married couples made up 65.3% of families in 2025 (13.0 million), which is a decrease from 66.6% in 2015 (Figure 5). This reflects a long-term trend of fewer couples getting married (read our Marriages in England and Wales: 2023 bulletin). While there is an overall decrease in married-couple families, there has been an increase in married-couple families with dependent children (40.0% and 37.9% of all married-couple families in 2025 and 2015, respectively).

The vast majority (99.1%) of married couples were of the opposite sex; same-sex couples made up 0.9% of married couples in 2025.

Civil partner couple families have increased in the last decade, from an estimate of around 48,000 in 2015 to around 216,000 in 2025. However, as a proportion of all families, this increase is not statistically significant (0.3% in 2015 compared with 1.1% in 2025). Most of this increase has occurred since 2020 (from around 73,000). This may reflect changes in legislation. Opposite-sex couples have been able to form civil partnerships in England and Wales since 31 December 2019 (Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) Regulations 2019). For more information, see our Civil partnership formations for England and Wales dataset.

The number of cohabiting-couple families in 2025 was 3.5 million (17.6% of all families). This is an increase from 3.2 million (17.0%) in 2015, however, this change was not statistically significant. Of the cohabiting couples, 95.1% were of opposite sexes, a decrease from 2015 (97.2%). Same-sex cohabiting couples increased to 4.9% in 2025 from 2.8% in 2015. However, this difference was not statistically significant.

The percentage of families who were lone parents remained relatively unchanged at 16.0% in 2025 (3.2 million), compared with 16.2% in 2015 (3.0 million). See Section 6: Lone parents, for more information.

In 2025, 42.8% of families contained one or more dependent children, 15.8% had only non-dependent children living with them, and 41.4% had no children living with them.

Of families with dependent children living with them, 45.0% contained one dependent child, 41.0% contained two and 14.1% contained three or more.

There were 3.2 million lone-parent families in 2025, a small increase from 3.0 million in 2015. When accounting for the increase in the number of families in the UK, the proportion of lone-parent families is similar to 10 years ago (16.0% and 16.2% of all families in 2025 and 2015, respectively). This is reflected in similar figures for both lone-father (15.4% and 14.4% in 2025 and 2015, respectively), and lone-mother families (84.6% and 85.6% in 2025 and 2015, respectively). None of these changes were statistically significantly different.

While proportions of lone-parent families have remained similar, there was a decrease in lone-parent families with dependent children (61.1% and 65.1% in 2025 and 2015, respectively). Lone-parent families with non-dependent children increased (38.9% and 34.9% in 2025 and 2015, respectively). This reflects changes noted in Section 4: Young adults living with parents. Read more in our Milestones: journeying through modern life article and More adults living with their parents article.

Figure 6: Most lone-parent families were lone-mother families with dependent children in 2025

Percentages of lone-parent families by sex of parent and type of child, UK, 2015 and 2025

Notes:

1. Totals do not sum to exactly 100% because of rounding.

Figure 6 shows that more than half (53.2%) of all lone-parent families were lone mothers with at least one dependent child in 2025. This is a decrease compared with 2015 (58.4%). Lone fathers with dependent children made up 7.9% of lone parents in 2025, an increase that was not statistically significant, from 6.7% in 2015.

This decrease in lone-mother families with at least one dependent child may be accounted for by the increase of lone-mother families with non-dependent children, (31.4% and 27.2% in 2025 and 2015, respectively). In comparison, among all lone-parent families, lone-father families with non-dependent children decreased to 7.5% in 2025 from 7.7% in 2015, respectively. However, this change was not statistically significant.

Among lone-father families, just over half (51.2%) contained dependent children in 2025. This increase was not statistically significant compared with 2015 (46.3%). Among lone-mother families, 62.9% contained dependent children, a decrease from 68.3% in 2015.

Family

A family is a married, civil-partnered, or cohabiting couple with or without children, or a lone parent with at least one child, who lives at the same address; children may be dependent or non-dependent.

Children

Dependent children are those living in families who are either aged under 16 years or aged 16 to 18 years and who are in full-time education, excluding children aged 16 to 18 years who have a partner or child living in the household. Non-dependent children are those living with their parent(s) and who are either aged 19 years or over and have no partner or child living in the household, or who are aged 16 to 18 years and are not in full-time education and have no partner or child living in the household. Non-dependent children are often called adult children.

Household

The current definition of household (used from 2011) is one person living alone, or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address who share cooking facilities and share a living room, sitting room or dining area. A household can consist of a single family, more than one family, or no families in the case of a group of unrelated people.

The previous definition of household (used from 1996 to 2010) is one person living alone, or a group of people living at the same address who have the address as their only or main residence, and either share one main meal a day or share living accommodation (or both).

A helpful way to think of the relationship between families and households is to consider families as a subset or portion of a household, as more than one family can live in a household, with or without other individuals.

One-family household

A household type consisting of both couple households (with or without children) and lone-parent households. Households where there is one family and one individual (for example, a married couple with their daughter and a lodger, or a married couple with one elderly parent) are also classified as one-family households.

Lone-parent family

A family with a single male or female parent living with either dependent or non-dependent children. The definition of a lone parent does not make any distinction between situations where a child has regular contact and/or partly resides with their other parent and a child who solely resides with and is cared for by one parent. Only the parent living with their children is included in the estimated number of lone-parent families and households.

Multi-family household

This is a household that consists of two or more families. The families can be:

• unrelated (for example, two unrelated couples sharing a house)

• related and multi-generational (for example, cohabiting couple plus children and elderly parents, or married couple plus their daughter and her child)

• related but not multi-generational (for example, cohabiting couple plus son and girlfriend, or two brothers and their partners sharing a house)

Statistical significance

Statistical significance has been determined using the 95% confidence intervals, where instances of non-overlapping confidence intervals between estimates indicate that the difference is unlikely to have arisen from random fluctuation.

In cases of overlapping confidence intervals between estimates, further testing is undertaken to determine if the confidence interval for the difference between the two estimates crosses zero. If it does, this confirms that there is no statistical significance. If it does not cross zero, then this indicates statistical significance.

In this bulletin, we have made comparisons of 2025 estimates and/or percentages against earlier points in time and between different groups. Such comparisons are statistically significant, unless we have stated otherwise.

For a full glossary and definitions, see our Families and households Quality and Methodology Guide (QMG) and our Uncertainty and how we measure it for our surveys methodology.

Labour Force Survey

The families and households' estimates are produced using the Quarter 2 (Apr to June) of the Labour Force Survey (LFS), a large-scale UK household survey.

For this release, the Quarter 2 2025 survey was used to produce data that achieved a sample of 33,235 households (including imputed).

Most communal establishments are excluded from the LFS, except for NHS accommodation. Students in halls of residence are included through the parental home.

The response rates of the LFS have been lower in recent years than previously, resulting in a higher level of uncertainty in the estimates produced using this data source. However, following implementation of the Survey Improvement and Enhancement Plan, achieved sample sizes are improving. For more information, see our Labour Force Survey performance and quality monitoring reports.

Measures of quality, such as confidence intervals (to show the levels of uncertainty associated with survey estimates), are presented in the datasets. Users are advised to consult the quality measures when interpreting the estimates.

Families and households methodology

Quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our Families and households, UK quality and methods guide (QMG).

In this bulletin, we have made comparisons of 2025 estimates and/or percentages against earlier points in time and between different groups. These changes are statistically significant, unless we have stated otherwise. This means that there is likely to have been a real change and that the difference we are observing is unlikely to be a result of chance. 

We have rounded the estimates to at least the nearest 1,000. Totals of estimates may not sum because of this rounding. We have used unrounded estimates to calculate percentages. In the bulletin, percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Totals of percentages may not sum to 100% because of rounding.

Census 2021

The figures published from our regular families and households publications are likely to differ from Census 2021 for several reasons. Census data refer to a point in time whereas survey data are accumulated over a period of three months. Census is self-completed whereas surveys are interviewer led. The census covers nearly all of the population with only a small amount of estimation, whereas surveys are weighted up from a sample to be representative.

UK household estimates

We have published a user guide on household estimates and projections across the UK. This provides further detail on the coherence and comparability of household estimates across the UK. We no longer publish Labour Force Survey (LFS) based estimates of families and households for Northern Ireland. LFS-based estimates are still available for England, Scotland, and Wales. These should be used when making comparisons with estimates for the UK as a whole, or across the constituent countries of Great Britain. 

The National Records of Scotland (NRS), the Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) publish the official estimates of households for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, respectively. These should be used when analysing household estimates at national and sub-national level.