This is mostly predictive - that 1-2 person households will become the norm. So the title is wrong to start with.
Then, they assert that most people don't live in houses, also wrong. 60% of Americans (and similar elsewhere) live in houses. Not apartments etc.
Then, the predictions. Why are 1-2 person households the trend? Is it because people don't want to live in a house and own a car? Are the so-called Millennials at the core of this? No. If they have the income, they buy houses and cars, exactly as people before them did.
So what is the supposed trend about? I imagine it's because of a lack of suburb development. Zoning, land use, distance to city centers. People don't live in suburbs, because for whatever reason they're not being built fast enough at a cost that is affordable.
All of these types of articles are just laughably wrong about the state of the world. They say 80% of new households will be 1-2 people as though this is a lasting trend towards smaller households. That's just people moving out of their parents house. The majority of those will eventually become 3+ households.
The people that the suburbs were built for still exist. People that aren't rich and want to have a family. They're just doing that in their early 30s now instead of in their early 20s.
[I replied to the wrong comment, so I copy my earlier answer here, at its right place, sorry.]
I assumed they were just continuing a trend. But I looked at the US 1980 census and was surprised to find that the number of persons per household almost didn't change. 2.67 then vs 2.62 now.
Meanwhile in France, it dropped from 2.75 to 2.2, so I thought it was the same in the USA, hence my hypothesis. But it appears it isn't.
> People don't live in suburbs, because for whatever reason they're not being built fast enough at a cost that is affordable.
Is it possible that it’s due to people feeling like they do not have the economic security to purchase homes and start families?
There are cheap suburbs all over the US. The question is can people afford them, including factoring in the volatility of income over the next few decades of your life.
I'm not so sure there are cheap suburbs all over. Housing occupancy has remained at the same, noise level for decades. You have to find a house for sale, in your price range, to live in a house. That's hard, which means IMO there aren't enough houses.
Then, they assert that most people don't live in houses, also wrong. 60% of Americans (and similar elsewhere) live in houses. Not apartments etc.
Then, the predictions. Why are 1-2 person households the trend? Is it because people don't want to live in a house and own a car? Are the so-called Millennials at the core of this? No. If they have the income, they buy houses and cars, exactly as people before them did.
So what is the supposed trend about? I imagine it's because of a lack of suburb development. Zoning, land use, distance to city centers. People don't live in suburbs, because for whatever reason they're not being built fast enough at a cost that is affordable.