Census finding: more but smaller households

The number of households in the nation is rising and the number of people in each household is falling, the Census Bureau said. The bureau reported the number of households rose by 27 percent over the decade to 80.4 million in 1980, and the average household size dropped from 3.11 in 1970 to 2.75 last year. Among the reasons for the drop are an increase in divorces, declining birth rates, and an increase in the n umber of young adults living alone.