Household structure Sample Clauses

Household structure. Another important driver to discuss is the future household compositions as the size of a family and the household structure are relevant factors shaping our future socio-economic world (OECD, 2011). There are several data indicating that the household structure in Europe is going to change, which will influence future passenger demand. On the one hand, households become smaller with fewer children. For 2020, the average number of children per household is predicted to decline both for Eastern and Western Europe, as depicted overleaf. Within both regions, the average number of children per household will drop to 0.5, compared to 1.0 in 1980 in Eastern Europe and around 0.9 in 1980 in Western Europe (Euromonitor International, 2013). There are several reasons for this development: an increasing amount of women in employment; family planning will be delayed; costs of raising a child will increase; and fertility rates will decrease (Euromonitor International, 2013). Although this forecast does only look into 2020, it can be stated that there is a trend towards households with fewer children within Europe. In the long run, this trend will influence household structures and the number of people using transport services. It can also be assumed that households with fewer children have no responsibility to care for a family and, hence, possess a higher discretionary spending and more available leisure time. This could lead into increasing travel activities and holidays, which ultimately drive future passenger demand. The influence of the life stage and family status on travel behaviour has already been examined in some studies, such as Kattiyapornpong (2006). Within this research, the author shows that childless singles and couples travel more.

Household structure. The distribution of different household sizes can give an indication as to whether there is a high share of single travellers, either travelling alone or in groups, or families using transportation services. In Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, and Sweden the share of single person households accumulates to more than 40 per cent of total population. Further including two- person households, the figure rises to more than 70 per cent (Figure 10). A high share of people might hence be travelling alone or in groups of two. In countries such as Romania, Poland, Slovakia, or Portugal, on the contrary, a rather large share of households consists of three persons or more. When considering (air) traffic flows between specific regions it is important to consider the household size within a country and the potential prevalence of a particular passenger group (as defined in the latter sections of this report).