Living arrangements
Key points
Estimates from Census 2021 show that:
- The Lancashire-12 area had a higher percentage of people married or in a same-sex civil partnership (45.1%) than the national average (43.7%); In the Lancashire-14 area the figure was closer at 43.9%; Only Ribble Valley had a rate in excess of 50% whilst in Blackpool there was a very low rate of 34.9%
- The 'always been single' category is slightly lower in Lancashire-12 (24.4%) and Lancashire-14 (25.2%), than the England and Wales average (26.7%); A rate below 20% was recorded in Ribble Valley, whilst Preston had a much higher rate of 30.2% that was unchanged from 2011
- Only 8.9% of adults were separated or divorced in Lancashire-12, the highest rates being in Blackpool (12%), Hyndburn (9.8%), Burnley (9.7%) and Fylde (9.6%)
- The proportion of adults who are widowed or the remaining partner from a civil partnership was 6.3% in Lancashire-12; The highest rates were in Fylde and Wyre
- During the two decades to 2021 figures show a decrease in the proportion of adults who are married or in a civil partnership, this being true for all the geographical areas we have analysed; The decrease before 2011 was greater than afterwards in most authorities, except perhaps in Rossendale, but especially so in Preston, where the proportion only fell from 41.5% to 40.4% between 2011 and 2021
- Conversely the proportions of adults in a cohabiting couple have increased across the areas in our study although two authorities where the increase has been less marked being Pendle and Blackburn with Darwen.
Introduction
This article uses statistics that were published as part of the Phase 1 - Census 2021 topic summaries. These are estimates based on information submitted by householders and other respondents on Census Day 2021, which was on 21st March. The living arrangements dataset is based on all usual residents aged 16 and over who are in households. It differs from the 2011 version in that 'divorced' and 'separated' categories are not combined. The 'separated' category is so small that it is still useful to combine the categories anyway. There are a number of similarities between this topic and household composition. The living arrangements topic measures adults, rather than households, and looks into the married and cohabiting groups in more depth, breaking these categories down into opposite-sex and same-sex couples. The legal partnership status topic looks into some of the categories (civil partnerships) in more depth than this topic, but does not consider cohabitation.
Changes in legislation have the potential to affect the trends shown in the time series chart we included in this report. Civil partnerships for same-sex couples were introduced in December 2005 (after the 2001 Census), marriage for same-sex couples was allowed from March 2014 (after the 2011 Census) and civil partnerships for opposite-sex couples was added in 2019, again after the 2011 Census but in time for Census 2021. These changes could have tilted the balance towards people being in a legal partnership and away from cohabiting, but the actual trend was strongly in the other direction.
Changes to rules regarding the inheritance of a partner's pension might have reduced the attractiveness of marriage or entering a civil partnership, but it is unlikely that this would be a major consideration at the time of planning a union. These changes have been taking place over a much longer period than legislation on same-sex unions.
The national and regional context
In England and Wales almost 44% of adults were married or in a civil partnership. In the North West the percentage was lower at 41.9%. 14.4% of adults were cohabiting in the North West region, slightly more than in England and Wales as a whole (14.1%).
In total in England and Wales 42.2% of adults were not living in a couple. This was unchanged from 2011. In the North West the figure was a little higher at 43.6%. The majority of adults who are not living in a couple are single, never having been married or in a civil partnership. This applies to just over a quarter of adults nationally and regionally.
In the North West 8.7% of adults were separated or divorced, slightly above the national rate of 8.5%. The proportion of adults who are widowed was almost 6% regionally, a little above the national rate of 5.6%.
The Lancashire perspective
The Lancashire -12 area had a slightly higher percentage of people married or in a civil partnership (45.1%) than the national average (43.7%). In the Lancashire-14 area the figure was even closer at 43.9%. Ribble Valley had a rate in excess of 50% whilst in Blackpool there was a very low rate of 34.9%.
Rates of cohabitation in the Lancashire-12 area range from 13.1% in Fylde to 16.5% in Rossendale (ranked 28th highest in England and Wales). Blackburn with Darwen had the lowest rate in the Lancashire-14 area with just 12% and was ranked joint 30th lowest in England and Wales. Blackpool's rate was 16.3%. At 14.3%, the figures for Lancashire-12 and 14 areas were fairly close to the England and Wales average.
Linked to the pattern of the married or in a civil partnership category, the single category is slightly lower in Lancashire-12 (24.4%) and Lancashire-14 (25.2%), than the England and Wales average (26.7%). A rates below 20% was recorded in Ribble Valley and just above this in Wyre and Fylde, whilst Preston had a much higher rate of 30.2%, unchanged from 2011. To some extent this may be connected to the age profiles of the population in districts. The districts which have major universities, Lancaster, Preston and West Lancashire have boosted numbers of students aged 19 to early twenties and these will mostly be unmarried, but if they are living in halls of residence they will not be counted in this topic.
The topic also identifies the percentage of people who are classified as married, or in a civil partnership, but are not living in the same household. This small category accounts for just 1.4% at the national level and 1.1% in Lancashire-12 and -14. At the local authority level rates of 2% or more were recorded in both Pendle and Blackburn with Darwen; two authorities with have high rates of ethnic minorities which may be a factor behind this small anomaly.
Just 7% of adults were divorced in Lancashire-12. Rates were highest in Blackpool (9.5%) and Fylde (7.9%).
Only 1.9% of adults were classed as 'separated' in the Lancashire-12 and -14 areas. This was the same as the national and regional rate. Blackpool and Hyndburn had higher rates at 2.5% and in Burnley it was 2.3%.
The proportion of adults who are widowed or the remaining partner from a civil partnership was 6.3% in Lancashire area. The proportion of adults who are in this category is undoubtedly connected to the age profile of local authority areas. The highest rates are in Wyre and Fylde.
The Microsoft Power BI report has three pages, on the first the distinct detailed living arrangement categories are shown in two bar charts. One shows the number of persons in each category by district for all of the Lancashire-14 authorities, the other displays percentages for these districts and both Lancashire configurations, the North West Region, England and England and Wales. Use the tabs at top left to toggle between the charts. Page two has a table with detailed and broader categories for all these geographical areas by persons and percentage. The categories for display can be selected at bottom left of the page. The third page draws on the article written for the 2011 Census to show change over time for very broad categories. Bear in mind the note about change in legislation affecting the categories (see Introduction paragraph).
Interactive report
Source: NOMIS: Census 2021: Living arrangements Topic C2021TS010
and Lancashire Insight 2011 article on living arrangements