Trend to more families and households

The numbers of families and households in New Zealand are forecast to increase by 24 per cent and 28 per cent respectively over the next 20 years, according to the latest projections released by Statistics New Zealand today.

This exceeds projected population growth of 18 per cent over the same period.

The faster growth in the number of families and households is due to New Zealand's ageing population, leading to an increasing proportion of couples no longer living with children, and one-person households.

The number of families is projected to increase from an estimated 1.05 million in 2001 to 1.3 million in 2021.

Couples without children, still classified as families by Statistics New Zealand, will account for the majority of this growth, up from 407,000 in 2001 to 623,000 in 2021.

The department said the increasing prevalence of couples living without children was mainly due to the large number post-war 'baby boomers" reaching 50 or older.

Most of these couples would have had children who have left the parental home.

Couples without children would become the most common family type next year.

The number of households is projected to increase from 1.44 million in 2001 to 1.84 million in 2021. Households containing one or two people are projected to account for nearly all of this growth.

The number of one-person households will increase from 333,000 in 2001 to 488,000 in 2021, largely because of the increasing number of people at older ages, according to the projections.

The number of two-person households will increase from 489,000 in 2001 to 719,000 in 2021, mainly due to the increasing numbers of couple living without children and one-parent families.

- NZPA