If you live alone you are more likely to feel financially insecure and experience anxiety than people living with a partner.

A study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) compared single-person households with childless cohabiting couples.

The ONS found that people who live alone are more likely to be renting, and therefore have less opportunity to accumulate wealth.

Those living alone spend an average of 92% of their disposable income, compared with 83% in two-adult households in the ONS survey which looked at people aged 25 to 64.

The research did not include those living with dependent children.

Less likely to own property

Half of the group polled who live alone owned their own home, compared to 75% of couples.

This means more single people are missing out on the benefit of being home-owners and gaining from rising property values.

Only 51% of those who live alone reported having money left over at the end of the week or month, whereas nearly two-thirds of people living with partners found they had financial surplus.

Savings also proved to be an issue, as people on their own may find it more difficult to build up enough money to cover unforeseen expenses.

Over a third of those living alone reported that they wouldn't be able to make ends meet for over a month, compared to 14% of couples.

Not just financial impacts

The report also found that living alone can have a serious effect on well-being.

Those living alone report lower levels of happiness and increased anxiety levels than those living with a partner.

But it said: “While this may paint a negative picture for those living on their own, it is not clear that people’s living arrangements are directly associated with their personal well-being.

“It may be that some of the characteristics that tend to go with living alone, like being divorced, or renting your home, may have more of an impact.”

In the UK there are more people living alone than ever before, and that figure is only rising.

The report said this growth could be because of changing relationship patterns, such as  more couples divorcing.

The number of people living on their own went up by 16% to 7.7 million between 1997 and 2017.

By 2039, the number of one-person households is set to reach 10.7 million, with most of this demographic being older people.