According to the Italian Central Institute of Statistics, the number of "non-nuclear" families—which consists of single individuals or individuals who reside together but lack familial connections, such as parent-child relationships—will rise from 39.3% to 44.3% by 2050. Over the same time span, the proportion of households consisting of couples with children will fall from almost three in ten (28.6%) to about one in five (21.4%). The breakdown of relationships also results in a rising number of single people and single parents, both mothers and fathers. These changes are also reflected in the average family size, which is expected to decrease from 2.21 to 2.03 by 2050. In absolute terms, the number of single people will rise from 9.7 to 11 million, with older women experiencing the greatest increase. This raises concerns about how to provide quality of life and care for those who would live without family members in old age, considering that by mid-century, 41.1% of families will be made up of single people (now 36.8%).