| Summary: | Purpose: The aim of the paper is to present the concept of a life cycle of the family identified with a household in historical terms and also to indicate the presence of a one-person household in these concepts. Moreover, the purpose covers also an attempt to conceptualize the functioning of a one-person household in the household life cycle and formulate the proposal concerning a one-person household life cycle model.
Design/methodology/approach: The first part of the article presents the genesis and development of the family/household life cycle concept since the beginning of the 20th century in the aspect of oneperson households. The second part of the article is an attempt to indicate the variables that should be used to create a model of one-person household life cycle functioning and a proposition of the author’s concept.
Findings: To create a useful variable illustrating the stages of the life cycle of a one-person household, three characteristics should be taken into account, i.e. age, gender and education.
Research implications: The household life cycle can be the key to understanding how consumer behavior changes over time.
Practical implications: It seems that the potential of the one-person household life cycle concept can have practical application in economics, can inspire and guide new research, providing valuable information about one-person households.
Oryginality/value: The model presented in the study should provide a “sensitizing” conceptual framework for thinking how to improve previous models of the household life cycle and include one-person households in them.
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