Singles in the City: A Comparison of Vienna Five Years before and after the Crisis Year 2008

Since the 1970s new forms of living arrangements, non-conventional modes of cohabitation and alternative family forms emerged (e.g. non-marital partnerships, couples living apart together). In line with that, the number of singles and individuals living alone are rising – especially in urban areas. Theoretical debates attribute this development to changing social values as well as new economic insecurities (Hradil 2003). Therefore, our main research question is: What types of singles are prevalent in Vienna and which changes can be observed within the last decades? Our data consists of a large representative survey conducted in Vienna in 1995, 2003, 2008 and 2013 (8,400 respondents in each wave), thus spanning a period of several years before and after the crisis in 2008. Vienna is a dynamic city that grows older and younger at the same time as it becomes an increasingly international metropolis.

In a first step we want to disentangle and clarify commonly used definitions of singles (e.g. referring to individuals living alone vs. individuals not having a partner nor children). We contrast different types of singles and describe them alongside important characteristics such as gender, education and age. Besides describing size and composition of these types, we want to highlight differences and dynamics within the last 20 years. In a second step we are interested in the impact of the economic crisis on quality of life. We examine trends in the satisfaction with living conditions, use of the city’s cultural and leisure facilities, subjective assessments of several dimensions of life satisfactions as well as changes in income and poverty risk. First results indicate, that in single households, women face higher risks of living below the poverty line or in manifest poverty (e.g. 29% of women over 60 years who are living alone vs. 13% of men in the same group).