The proportion of UK households made up of one person is increasing, and a new study has found that single households use more space and energy per capita than do larger households.  The researchers see this as a problem—not for UK family life, but for energy efficiency.  The headline on the BBC news story is a dead giveaway.

Single households 'waste energy'
 
Efforts to get households to reduce energy use are being hampered by the appliance and gadget-packed homes of single men, research suggests.

Sole occupancy households in England and Wales are said to use the most space and power per capita - with males aged 35-45 the worst offenders.

“Hampered” by “gadget-packed homes”?  “Offenders”?  They’ve obviously started from the presupposition that energy consumers are a problem, if not a threat. And so you can see already where this is going to end up, and it ain’t good for the “offenders”.

"The rise in younger, wealthier one-person households is having an increasingly serious impact on the environment."

The fact that this trend means more single, childless adults at a time when European birth rates are plummeting isn’t worth mentioning, apparently.  The impact on the environment, on the other hand—that is serious.

According to a report published in the journal Environment, Development and Sustainability, unmarried men in the 35-44 age group consume 13% more energy and use about 6% more space than one person householders aged over 60.

Space and energy aren’t free.  The more you use, the more you pay.  Energy is provided by public utilities, so if the government thinks energy is sold too cheaply, it’s easy enough to raise the price.  If for some reason that’s not good enough, government could abolish public utilities—but I digress.

But the researchers reckon that with the right advertising, such individuals may be willing to invest in more environmentally friendly homes and products in future.

Advertising, i.e., public education, should do the trick.  Yet another example of the enlightened liberal's touching faith in education.

If persuasion fails, there’s always the iron fist.

The report also suggests the government could encourage people to live more space-efficiently with the introduction of an occupancy tax.

As already suggested, if consumers are using more energy than can be provided, the price is too low and should be increased.  Since energy is bought and paid for by consumers, what is the point of an occupancy tax?  I can’t help thinking this is yet another instance of government spying an opportunity to tax something in order to extract more cash from citizens.

Furthermore, one could argue that a preferable solution is for single people to form larger households by getting married and having children.  But that would entail the UK government admitting its anti-family policies are misguided and need to be reversed.

Nah!  Raising taxes is much more enjoyable.

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