Living alone

One-person households are heading toward being the most common household type in all three countries here, but the person behind the statistic differs. In Korea, the top reason for living alone is the death of a spouse, and the largest age group is 70 and over. In America, 58 percent of 18-to-24-year-olds live with their parents. In Japan, 38 percent of households were already solo by 2020. The stock image of solo living is a young urbanite who chose independence. The statistical majority is someone else.