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Households, families and children are the underlying theme of this year's Social Trends. Many aspects of society vary according to make up of the household and family type, including economic activity, spending patterns, and attitudes towards the environment. Attitudes to marriage, divorce and childbearing have changed over time and contributed to an increasing proportion of cohabiting couples, lone parent families and people living alone. Despite these changes, the traditional family structure of a married mother and father with a child or children, remains the most common family type.
As the population grows, the proportion of people aged under 16 has dropped below those over state pension age. Life expectancy at birth in the UK has risen, younger people spend more time in formal education and the labour force has grown as the population has increased. However, in 2006/07 local authorities spent more than double the amount on personal social services, such as home help and foster care, than they did a decade ago.
Crime, although perceived to be increasing, has actually fallen. There has been a rise in home ownership and although housing accounts for a significant proportion of household expenditure, there were large increases in spending on communication and by UK tourists travelling abroad.
The environment and particularly climate change was still a concern for many people, although access to a car remained on the increase. There have been notable increases over the last decade in ownership of items such as mobile phones and home computers. Despite these increases, traditional leisure activities, such as watching TV and spending time with family and friends, remain popular.
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