Scottish Household Survey 2019: twenty years of Scotland's people - summary report

Households in Scotland are changing

The number of households in Scotland increased from approximately 2.2 to 2.5 million, but they were getting smaller – single adult and small adults families were the most common in 2019.

There has been an increase of adults under 65 living alone, from 16% in 1999 to 20% in 2019. However, single older households decreased from 16% in 1999 to 14% in 2019.

Among the lowest income households the proportion of single older households decreased from 43% in 1999 to 32% in 2019, while the proportion of single and small adult households both increased.

In the highest income groups, the most notable change was a decrease in large family households, from 15% in 1999 to 11% in 2019.

1 in 3 or 32% of adults in the lowest income group were single adult households in 2019, an increase from 25% in 1999