This dataset provides 2011 estimates that classify usual residents in England and Wales who are aged 16 and over and living in households by their living arrangements. The estimates are as at census day, 27 March 2011.

Estimates of living arrangements help to identify and understand the changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation and partnerships within households and provide evidence of the different experiences for people associated with different arrangements that can help to inform the social inclusion agenda.

Living arrangements differ from marital and civil partnership status because cohabiting takes priority over other categories. For example, if a person is divorced and cohabiting, then in results for living arrangements they are classified as cohabiting.

References to civil partnerships are not present in estimates from the 2001 Census which was conducted before the introduction of same-sex civil partnerships in December 2005. In addition, unlike the 2001 Census, in 2011 no account was taken of those in a second or subsequent marriage, but, the 2001 living arrangements estimates in UV82 can be made broadly similar by collapsing the appropriate categories.

In order to protect against disclosure of personal information from the 2011 Census, there has been swapping of records in the Census database between different geographic areas, and so some counts will be affected. In the main, the greatest effects will be at the lowest geographies, since the record swapping is targeted towards those households with unusual characteristics in small areas.

More details on the ONS Census disclosure control strategy may be found on the Statistical Disclosure Control page on the ONS web site.