1996. ÉVI MIKROCENZUS Az egyszemélyes háztartások fő jellemzői (1998)

FŐBB EREDMÉNYEK

MAIN RESULTS As a part of the changes in the composition of households that occurred in the last decades, the number of lone persons increased from 447 thousand in 1960 to more than one million in 1996, while their share within all households grew from 14.5 percent to 26. In Budapest, 32 percent of households contain only one person, while their proportion is much smaller in other types of localities: it slightly exceeds the country average in county towns (26 percent), while it doesn't even reach 25 percent in other towns and in rural areas. The high, almost two-third share of lone women which has remained virtually unchanged since 1980, is connected to the differences between the mortality rates of the sexes which shows, even by international standards, a really unfavourable mortality rate of middle-aged men. The proportion of the young (aged under 30) within lone persons fell from 15 percent in 1980 to 9 in 1996, while that of the middle-aged decreased slightly in the last six years, after an early growth. At present, their share is 33 percent. The share of the elderly changed in the opposite way as that of the young: in 1980, 50 percent of lone persons were aged 60 or over, despite a small increase in the eighties, their share almost reached 58 percent in the spring of 1996. Their average age is the highest in rural areas, the share of lone persons aged 70 or over, is more than 39 percent there, while only 4 percent are aged under 30. In county towns, the proportion of those of the highest age is considerably smaller (29 percent), while that of the young is higher (almost 14 percent). The share of the oldest is also high in the capital (more than 33 percent), while the 13 percent share of the young is only slightly less than the respective share observed in county towns. Similarly to the whole population, the educational attainments of lone persons continued to improve. In 1980, the educational attainment of more than 50 percent of lone persons didn't reach the 8 grades of general school and a further 23 percent had completed their general education only. At present, not quite 34 percent of them belong to the least educated, and 30 percent have first-level education completed. The shares of those with secondary school final exams or with diplomas have increased gradually, from 14 percent in 1980 to 18 percent in the spring of 1996, and from 6 to 11, respectively. The growth in the proportion of those with second-level attainments took place almost entirely in the nineties, while among those with diplomas, it was virtually the same in the eighties and nineties. The difference in the levels of educational attainments of male and female lone persons is getting equalized in a considerably slower way than that within the whole of the population. At present, 41 from 100 women, while only 19 from 100 men don't even have general school attainments. The lag of women is the largest among those having a certificate of second-level apprentice or vocational school, while the difference is relatively small among those with secondary school final exams or diplomas. The shares of the former are 20 percent among men and 17 among women, while those of the latter are 15 and 9, respectively. The proportion of lone active earners decreased from 39 percent in 1980 to 34 in 1990 and to 22-23 in the spring of 1996, while that of inactive earners rose from 55 percent to 71. At present, most of inactive earner lone persons (almost 62 percent) are pensioners. The share of the unemployed within lone persons has doubled in the last six years, exceeding 3 percent in the spring of 1996. The relevant share is 7 percent among men, while only 1 among women. 14