Special Collection 15

Living Alone: One-person households in Asia

Published 03 June 2015

This special collection, edited by Wei-Jun Jean Yeung and Adam Ka-Lok Cheung, adds new knowledge about the fastest growing type of household in Asia – one-person households (OPH). The 11 papers in the collection examine OPH in 15 countries in East Asia (China, Japan, and Korea), Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and the Philippines) and South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan). The collected papers analyze the historical trends, the policy implications and impact on individual well-being of OPH. They were first presented at a conference convened by the guest editors at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore in December 2013. This collection is the first body of literature that systematically investigates one-person households outside of Western societies. The papers use data from censuses and large-scale household surveys, many with longitudinal or comparative analyses. Together, they provide an excellent basis for international comparison and future investigation. They illustrate both similarities to and differences from Western societies. The papers also reveal significant inter- and intra-national heterogeneities among those living alone in Asia. OPH will continue to increase in Asia in the next few decades due to rapid aging, declining marriage and fertility, and increasing divorce and migration. More theoretical and empirical research is needed to understand the complexity of this living arrangement and its impact.

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