Background
The number of single-person households has doubled from 2.26 million households (15.6%) in 2000 to 4.89 million households (26.5%) in 2014, emerging as a key consumer force and drawing attention as the center for new policy making. Against this background, the structural characteristics and food consumption behaviors of single-person households were studied, and their impact on the market was analyzed to suggest the policy makers and the food industry proper measures to deal with the new trend.
The purpose of this study is to take a look at the overall food consumption trends of the single-person households, including their grocery purchase, daily food consumption and nutrition intake; predict the future food market based on the responses of the food industry to the new trend; and suggest the policy directions for daily food consumption and the food industry.


Methodology
The food consumption pattern of single-person households and its impact on the food market were analyzed using statistics, quantitative models, surveys of consumers and businesses, the market survey of key countries and the professional opinions.
For statistical analyses, time-series data and the raw statistical data regarding food consumption of the single-person households and their nutrition intake were applied. For example, the ‘Research on Household Trends’ by Statistics Korea from 2006 to 2014, the ‘Research on Food Consumption Behaviors’ by KREI and the ‘National Health and Nutrition Research’ by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention associated with the Ministry of Health and Welfare were analyzed as raw data in order to learn about nutrition intake and daily dietary instability. With regards to the consumer survey, a total of 1,000 people, 500 from each group respectively, were sampled and surveyed to draw comparison between one-person households and multiple-person households consisting of two or more family members living together. For the business survey, 176 food manufacturers, 127 food distributors and 300 restaurants were surveyed.


Study Findings and Implications
The monthly average food cost of single-person households was found to be 74.4% of the food cost of multi-person households, but its Engel’s Coefficient was 29.2%, which is slightly higher than that of the multi-person household. For food cost distribution, the unequal distribution was relatively high with the single-person households compared with the other household group. Based on income levels, the single-person households are found to consume less food than the multi-person households up to the middle class. For higher income groups, however, it was found that the single-person households consume more food than their multi-person counterpart except for fishery foods. For the single-person households of 30 years or below, the consumption of fruits, vegetables and processed fruit/vegetable foods was half the level of multi-person households. When the householders are 60 years old or above, the single-person households were found to consume less than half of the livestock products consumed by multi-person households. Frozen instant foods have witnessed significant consumption growth since 2013, and the consumption growth is notable in the single-person households of 30 years or below. The change in food consumption expenditure from 2006 to 2014 was attributable to the population and general structural changes by 28.6%, and for the single-person households, the change was mainly caused by reduced household size. The single-person households displayed high price elasticity across all food sectors including fresh food, processed food and eating out. They tend to spend more on products available in convenient stores or through mail delivery in smaller volume than the other group.
Regarding breakfast, the single-person households responded twice as high as breakfast skips than the multi-person households. It was found that almost half of the respondents eat their meals irregularly. One third of the single-person households reported their food chewing issue with the low level of satisfaction with their current food consumption and they reported a low level of interest in locally produced foods, regional specialty foods and environment friendly foods. Dietary life instability was twice as high in the single-person households than in the multiple-person households. The instability became even more severe as the respondents get older and have lower incomes. The single-person households were found to consume less nutrition than recommended compared with the multi-person households and the ratio of those taking insufficient nutrition was twice as high in single-person households.
The growth of the single-person households has led to ① rising demand for small portion/small packaged products (small size) and ② rising demand for ‘prepared’ foods (convenience). The growth of single-person households has the implications for increasing demand for ‘convenient cooking’ (convenience) in the food industry. In the distribution sector, the growth of single-person households has led to ① more frequent use of convenience stores, ② the expansion of online channels including online supermarkets, and ③ the change in the items displayed on shelves in large supermarket stores. In the eating out market (including restaurants and alcohol beverage bars), other type of restaurants including fast food restaurants, snack bars and seaweed rice roll restaurants have recorded relatively large revenue growth.
The proportion of the single-person households to the total households is expected to grow continuously from 10.4% in 2014 to 13.5% in 2024. In particular, the single-person households of 60 years old or above are forecasted to grow from 33.3% to 42.3% during the same period. The average expenditure per household by 2024 is expected to rise by 27.2% for single-person households and 19.7% for multi-person households using the per household consumption of 2014 as the basis. Considering the food consumption characteristics of single-person households, four policy proposals are made on dietary life and the food industry. The overall food consumption education campaigns targeting single-person households should be made at the regional level as they tend to show unhealthy daily food consumption patterns and there need to be detailed food support programs targeting those subject to insufficient nutrition intake. Promotion on healthy eating habits at work places, arranging cooking classes for single males living alone, and food information distribution through convenience stores which are frequently used by single-person households could be the ways for food consumption information sharing. Likewise, developing and distributing similar education programs through different places is necessary. The elderly living alone aged 70 or above are selected as the most vulnerable group in need of food support. The study suggests placing the policy priorities on the elderly living alone in small districts in the order of Eup/Myeon and Dong. When selecting food items for support, the foods and nutrition intake status of the concerned classes should be considered. In order to improve the solo dining experience of the single-person households, it is necessary to develop and operate group cooking and cafeteria dinning programs. As a policy proposal for the food industry, it is needed to focus on developing high-quality ready-made foods and controlling the quality of delivered foods in reflection of the rising demand for convenient home cooking and food delivery. To meet the demand from expanding senior population, providing the types of the foods preferred by the elderly is also needed.

Researchers: Lee Kyeim, Hwang Yunjae, Ban Hyunjung, Lim Seungju
Research Period: 2015. 1. ~ 2015. 10.
E-mail Address: lkilki@krei.re.kr