One-person households - a resource time bomb?

摘要

In the western world there is a trend towards the growth of small households, especially one-person households. In resource terms, one-person households are likely to consume more land, energy, goods and materials per person than those living in larger households where resources are shared amongst a greater number of people. Thus an increase in one-person households is likely to accelerate domestic consumption of resources over the next twenty years. This paper demonstrates the scale of the problem internationally and in the UK. It also investigates the UK Government's response and suggests ways in which it can be tackled in the future.