The family in Britain is changing. The once typical British family headed by two parents has (36) substantial changes during the twentieth century. In particular there has been a rise in the number of single-person households, which (37) from 18 to 29 percent of all households between 1971 and 2002. By the year 2020, it is (38) that there will be more single people than (39) people. Fifty years ago this would have been socially (40) in Britain.
In the past, people got married and stayed married. (41) was very difficult, expensive and took a long time. Today, people’s views on marriage are changing. Many (42) , mostly in their twenties or thirties, live together without getting married. Only about 60% of these couples will (43) get married.
In the past, people married before they had children, but now about 40% of children in Britain are born to unmarried parents. In 2000; (44) . Before 1960 this was very unusual. People are generally getting married at a later age now and many women do not want to have children immediately. (45) . The number of single-parent families is increasing. This is mainly due to more marriages ending in divorce, (46) .