Sample Detail

The line graph delineates the percentage of households in Britain who owned different numbers of cars between 1971 and 2007. Overall, the proportion of families with no car decreased sharply over time due to the substantial increases in the ownership of two cars and three or more cars. Meanwhile, one-car ownership exhibited mild fluctuations throughout rather than showing a clear upward trend. The proportion of households with two and three or more cars experienced ascending trends, though their pace of growth varied. Both started at under the 10% threshold in 1971, at around 9 and 1% respectively. Following this, the former surged twofold to end the period at roughly 27% and the latter climbed steadily until reaching 8% in 2007. Despite the constant rise, owning three or more cars remained uncommon for British households. As families with two and three or more cars increased in percentage, the figure for those with no-car ownership witnessed a dramatic decline throughout the period. Having no car was initially the most common status in 1971, with the figure at nearly half of the UK’s households, after that it dropped sharply, matching the figure for two-car ownership at 27% in the final year. Around 45% of households owned a car in 1971, with subsequent marginal fluctuations around that level until 1995. Following this, the possession rate of one car dipped to nearly 40% in 2003 and rebounded to 42% in 2007, slightly lower than the starting level.