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Occasional Paper

Household Changes - Scotland in a European Setting
A literature Review and Analysis 

Scotland's Place in the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland
Married/Cohabitant Couple Households without Children

Census Results 1981-2001

• In all the countries of Great Britain, there was a rise between 1981 and 1991 in the percentage of all households which come into this category followed by a sharp fall between 1991 and 2001.

• The fall between 1991 and 2001 was greater in England and Wales than in Scotland.

• In Ireland there has been an increase from 11% of all households in 1981 to 16% in 2001.

In Scotland, couple households with no children, as a proportion of all households, rose from 23% in 1981 to 25% in 1991, before falling to 17% in 2001. The proportion also fell significantly in England, Wales and Northern Ireland over the last 10 years (Figure 10 (11 kb pdf file) [footnote 1]), but rose in Ireland. Although Ireland experienced an increase in the proportion of adult-only couple households, it still had a smaller proportion of its total households in this category in 2001 than the countries of Great Britain. 

Suggested reasons for the observed trends in married/cohabiting couple households without children

The trends witnessed in married/cohabiting couples without children can be attributed to the reduction in the total fertility rate observed during the period 1981-2001 as illustrated in Table 1.

Table 1    Total Fertility Rates 1981-2001

Footnote