Living alone in France: a growing and diverse housing reality, Digi Mart USA News (France): Nearly four in ten principal residences in France are now occupied by a single person, according to the latest census data from the national statistics agency Insee. That figure rose by nearly 14% between 2016 and 2022, while households of five or more people declined by 4% over the same period.
Living alone is no longer a marginal or temporary arrangement, according to a study by the research firm Intermède and the Université Gustave Eiffel, supported by Leroy Merlin Source and Bouygues Immobilier. The people living alone do not fit a few familiar stereotypes such as the student in a studio or the widow in a rural house.
Instead, the study describes a wide variety of profiles, life paths, housing conditions and territories.
The growth is strongest among people aged 60 to 74, but it is also rising sharply among those under 24 and those aged 25 to 59. The 25 to 59 group accounts for 43% of people living alone, just 4% less than those over 60.
Working people make up 43% of those living alone, compared with 41% retirees and 16% other inactive people, including students.
Men living alone are increasing faster than women, particularly between ages 25 and 59. Women still make up 56% of people living alone, largely because of longer life expectancy and widowhood.
Living alone does not necessarily mean a worse economic situation, as people living alone are no more likely to be unemployed and are spread across the social spectrum, with a slight overrepresentation of managers and intermediate professions. However, their employment is more precarious, with more fixed-term contracts, apprenticeships, temporary work and subsidized jobs.
Marital situations also vary. Nearly half are single, a quarter are widowed and one in five are divorced.
Some people living alone are nonetheless in a relationship, for example in non-cohabiting couples, partial separations or multiple residences, and nearly one in ten lonely residents is married, in a civil partnership or in a free union. Conversely, being single does not always mean living alone, as shared housing, coliving and rooms in a host’s home can last across all stages of life.
Housing conditions also differ widely. Nearly nine out of ten homes under 30 square meters or with one room are occupied by a single person, but such small units house only 11% of people living alone.
Another 38% live in homes of 60 to 100 square meters and 15% in homes over 100 square meters. Almost four in ten people living alone live in houses, and nearly half own their homes (46%), compared with 36% renting privately and 16% renting social housing.
Living alone is often seen as a transitional stage, but the census shows it can also be lasting: 16% of people living alone have occupied their home for less than two years, compared with 10% of people in households of two or more, while 20% have lived in their homes for more than thirty years. The study concludes that growing diversity in how people live creates greater competition for small housing, which remains scarce, particularly in cities and suburban areas.
Addressing this requires more affordable housing for single people, support for older people to stay at home, adapted housing for an aging population, shared housing models, and consideration of underoccupied homes that have become too large for single occupants.
