Average household size: by religion of household reference person, April 2001, GB
Muslim, Sikh and Hindu households in Great Britain are larger than households headed by someone of another religion. In 2001, households headed by a Muslim were largest, with an average size of 3.8 people, followed by households headed by Sikhs (3.6 people) and Hindus (3.2 people). A third of Muslim households (34 per cent) contained more than five people, as did 28 per cent of Sikh and 19 per cent of Hindu households.
Jewish, Christian and Buddhist households were smaller – each with an average size of 2.3 people. These groups have an older age structure than the other religious groups, and contain a higher proportion of one-person households. Over 30 per cent of these households contained only one person, compared with between 13 and 15 per cent of Sikh, Hindu or Muslim households.
Households with dependent children: by religion of household reference person, April 2001, GB
Households headed by a Muslim are more likely than other households to contain children. Around two thirds (63 per cent) contained at least one dependent child in 2001, compared with around a quarter of Jewish (25 per cent) and Christian (27 per cent) households.
Muslim households also contained the highest number of children. A quarter (25 per cent) of Muslim households contained three or more dependent children, compared with 14 per cent of Sikh, 7 per cent of Hindu, and 5 per cent of Christian households.
The differences in the presence of children reflect partly the younger age structure of the Muslim population, and the intentions of Pakistani and Bangladeshi women. The average intended number of children among Pakistani and Bangladeshi women was 3.4 and 3.6 respectively, compared with 2.4 among Indian women and 2.1 among White women.
Lone parent households are less common within Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or Jewish communities. Hindu headed households with dependent children were the least likely be lone parent households in 2001, at 8 per cent. The proportions of Buddhist and Christian households with dependent children that were lone parent households were higher, 25 and 21 per cent respectively. Among households with dependent children headed by someone with no religious affiliation this figure was 26 per cent.
Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims are those most likely to live as married couples. Around 50 per cent of households headed by someone from one of these religions were married couple family households in 2001. This compared with between 27 and 38 per cent of households headed by people of other religions.
Jewish or Christian headed households are much more likely than those of other religions to consist only of pensioners. Again this reflects their older age structure. In 2001, around 30 per cent contained only pensioners, compared with less than 8 per cent among other groups. 19 per cent of Jewish and 17 per cent of Christian households were single-pensioner households. Among the other groups, no more than 5 per cent of households were single-pensioner households.
Sikh, Muslim, and Hindu households were more likely than other households to contain more than one family. Multiple-family households made up 7 per cent of all households in Great Britain overall in 2001. Among the Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities they comprised between 19 and 21 per cent of households. These multiple-family households are likely to be single extended family households, particularly in the case of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh multiple-family households.
Sources: Census, April 2001, Office for National Statistics Census, April 2001, General Register Office for Scotland Intended family size: Population Trends 112, Family building intentions in England and Wales: trends, outcomes and interpretations.
Notes: Household Reference Person was introduced in the 2001 Census and replaces Head of Household. The Household Reference Person is used to assign the religion of the household. It does not follow that everyone in the household will be of the same religion as the Household Reference Person.
A dependent child is a person aged 0 to 15 in a household or aged 16 to 18 in full-time education and living with his or her parents.
Married couple and lone parent households contain at least one person below pensionable age.
Pensioners are people of pensionable age. Pensionable age is 65 and over for males and 60 and over for females.
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