Figure 5.3.1 shows the proportion of persons living in one-person households in Australia between
1994–95 and 2011–12. The proportion of lone-person households increased steadily between
1994–95 and 2005–06 (from 22.8% to 25.7%), before decreasing and then plateauing between
2005–06 and 2011–12. This decrease may be attributed to increases in property prices, with living
alone becoming increasingly unaffordable especially for younger age groups (AIFS 2015).
Between 2006 and 2011, there has been a decline in lone-person households of 0.8% for those aged
30–34 years, and 0.7% for those aged 35–39 years. However, for those aged 60–64 years there was
an increase between 2006 and 2011 of lone-person households of 1.6%, and 1.1% increase for those
aged 65–69 years (ABS 2013a).