Single person

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In legal definitions for interpersonal status, a person who is single is an individual not in a committed relationship, married, or part of a civil union. [1] [2]

Contents

Reasons people remain single

People may be or remain single for a variety of reasons, including (but not limited to) one or several of the following:

Some single people regard and appreciate solitude as an opportunity. Some people stay single by choice. In addition to choosing singleness as a preferential option, there are also those who forgo marriage due to religious orders that prescribe its forbearance. [1] These religious traditions include:

Single culture in specific countries

United States

According to the United States Bureau of the Census, the fastest-growing household type since the 1980s has been the single person. Previously both socially uncommon and unaccepted due to perceived roles, public awareness, modern socioeconomic factors, and increasingly available popular and lengthier education and careers have made the single lifestyle a viable option for many Americans, especially after the Vietnam War. [10]

According to the United States Bureau of the Census, in 2016, single adults accounted for over 45% of the US population. 65% of this group had never been married. [11] In 2014, Pew Research Center notes that the highest percentage of never-married adults between White, Black, Hispanic and Asian Americans were Black Americans. The same study also projected that about 25% of millennials may not get married. [3]

Pandemic effects

A 2024 Stanford University study found that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly increased the number of single Americans. Researchers estimated that an additional 13.3 million people were single in 2022 compared to pre-pandemic levels. This increase was attributed to the dissolution of new relationships, the failure of informal relationships to develop, and disruptions to the dating market.

The study also revealed that the average American's weekly socializing time had not fully recovered from the pandemic. In 2022, individuals reported spending an average of 4.1 hours per week socializing, which was still below the pre-pandemic average of 4.5 hours per week in 2019. [12]

United Kingdom

Similar to the United States, single-person households have been seen to be increasingly popular in the United Kingdom. In the 2000s, studies found that more citizens were seen to be valuing their career over personal relationships. The increase in single-person households was also partly attributed to the high self-esteem it can offer to some people. [13]

Japan

In Japan, it is not uncommon for citizens to choose to remain single. This has been illustrated with many public figures and celebrities. Women typically value friendships over romantic relationships; many continue to have jobs and marry later, or forego marriage completely. [14]

However, people in Japan who do wish to date have reported that it is difficult to find the time to do so due to being overworked. [15]

South Korea

In South Korea an unofficial holiday called Black Day is observed on 14 April each year by and for single people. Singles who did not receive gifts on Valentine's Day or White Day meet dressed in black and eat jajangmyeon, noodles covered in black bean paste. The dish is one of South Korea's national foods, and is considered a comfort food. [16] [17] [18]

Sweden

In Stockholm, Sweden, sixty per cent of people live by themselves. [19]

Terminology

Terminology for singleness varies, usually based on gender, language, and country. Generally singles can be categorized by the following terms: never married, separated, divorced, and widowed.

English

Terms used to describe single men are seldom used, and carry positive connotations. Single men are often simply referred to as bachelors .

The English language has more terms for single, unwed women. These terms typically carry a negative connotation. Single women are sometimes called bachelorettes , especially in festive contexts in American English. However, the historic term for unwed women is spinster. The connotations of the word spinster have changed so much over time that it is now considered a derogatory term. The Oxford English Dictionary says in its usage notes for the word:

The development of the word spinster is a good example of the way in which a word acquires strong connotations to the extent that it can no longer be used in a neutral sense. From the 17th century the word was appended to names as the official legal description of an unmarried woman: Elizabeth Harris of London, Spinster. This type of use survives today in some legal and religious contexts. In modern everyday English, however, spinster cannot be used to mean simply ‘unmarried woman’; it is now always a derogatory term, referring or alluding to a stereotype of an older woman who is unmarried, childless, prissy, and repressed. [20]

Though spinster has a long history of being negative, there are some authors, such as Katie Bolick, who are trying to change the word's connotation into something positive. [21] Additionally, the phrase Old Maid is used to describe an unmarried woman.

French

Catherinette was a traditional French label for women of 25 years who were still unmarried by the Feast of Saint Catherine.

Chinese

The term sheng nu is used to describe unmarried women who are in mid to late twenties in China and East Asia. [22]

Japanese

In Japan, men who have no interest in getting married are called sōshoku(-kei) danshi (草食(系)男子 ) or Herbivore men. This term also describes young men who have lost their "manliness".

Civil status and health

A person's civil status can have an effect on their health. People have different perspectives on the ways in which civil status influences health.

A study in 2000 by the BioMed Central's public health journal covering the anti-depressant use of 3,500 Finnish people found an 80% increased risk of depression for those living alone. [23] A 2022 finding published in the August issue of Frontiers in Psychiatry using 2,056 studies and data from 123,859 participants found that living alone increased the chances of depression by 42%. [24]

Paul Dolan, professor in behavorial science at the London School of Economics, explained that "if you're a woman, don't bother [getting married]", as a study from the American Time Use Survey found that single women live longer and happier lives than married women. [25]

People who support singleness have different opinions on it, pointing out that not all marriages are created equal. Healthy people, with psychological well-being, have happy relationships with their partners. In contrast, unhappy marriages will have the opposite effect, "A bad marriage can make a person feel more isolated than being single" [26] according to sociologist professor Eric Klinenber at New York University.

A study of more than 10,000 adults found that married couples were more likely to gain weight during their process of romantic ventures than singles. [27] In other words, married couples have a higher risk of weight gain that may be large enough to pose a health risk, [26] as reported by Zhenchao Qian, professor of sociology at Ohio State University.

Targeting

Dating services are an especially targeted and advertised service for singles. [28] The growth of the dating services and dating events industry has been so drastic that the phrase "dating–industrial complex" (reminiscent of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's term "military industrial complex") has been coined to capture the amount of money and manpower devoted to dating services for singles. [29] [30]

Singles events have been an area of particular growth in singles-related commerce. [31] Many events are aimed at singles of particular affiliations, interest, or religions. [32] Some of the most strongly attended such events are the Christmas Eve party targeted at young Jewish singles in major cities in North America, particularly the Matzo Ball and its big city competitors. [33] A variety of other religious organizations' singles events are also very popular. However, dating via religious-sponsored singles events has also been criticized for fostering invasion of daters' privacy and undue expectations. [34]

Also there is a Single Supplement that adds extra fees to those traveling alone.

In some countries, particular laws may directly or indirectly disadvantage single persons. In the United States, for example, Social Security widow(er) benefits are only available to those persons who have been previously married, and single people in the United States pay more income taxes than married people. In many countries tour and holiday operators impose a penalty (often as much as 100%) on persons who travel alone.

Older singles are also heavily targeted by marketers, for much the same reasons. They are typically divorcees or widowed, perhaps reconciled to being single for the rest of their lives, and looking to make the most of what remains to them. Their children, if any, will typically be financially independent. They may, or may not, be looking for another relationship. There is a whole industry dedicated to making unsolicited telephone calls to this group in the hope of exploiting the ones who cannot distinguish between the honest and the dishonest.

Film and television

Literature

See also

Related Research Articles

A bachelor is a man who is not and never has been married.

Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increasingly common in Western countries since the late 20th century, led by changing social views, especially regarding marriage.

Miscegenation is a pejorative term for a marriage or admixture between people who are members of different races.

Common-law marriage, also known as non-ceremonial marriage, sui iuris marriage, informal marriage, de facto marriage, more uxorio or marriage by habit and repute, is a marriage that results from the parties' agreement to consider themselves married, followed by cohabitation, rather than through a statutorily defined process. Not all jurisdictions permit common law marriage, but will typically respect the validity of such a marriage lawfully entered in another state or country.

In family law, effects of marriage is a legal term of art used to describe all of the rights and obligations that individuals may be subject and entitled to if they are in a common-law marriage, an annulled marriage, domestic partnership or a civil union.

A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include death, divorce, break-up, abandonment, becoming widowed, domestic violence, rape, childbirth by a single person or single-person adoption. A single parent family is a family with children that is headed by a single parent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courtship</span> Period in a couples relationship which precedes their engagement and marriage

Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage or committed romantic, de facto relationship. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marriage. A courtship may be an informal and private matter between two people or may be a public affair, or a formal arrangement with family approval. Traditionally, in the case of a formal engagement, it is the role of a male to actively "court" or "woo" a female, thus encouraging her to understand him and her receptiveness to a marriage proposal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Premarital sex</span> Sexual activity before marriage

Premarital sex is sex before marriage. Premarital sex is sex between two people who are not married to each other. Premarital sex is considered a sin by a number of religions and also considered a moral issue which is taboo in many cultures. Since the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s, it has become accepted by certain liberal movements, especially in Western countries. A 2014 Pew study on global morality found that premarital sex was considered particularly unacceptable in "Muslim Majority Countries", such as Malaysia, Jordan and Pakistan, each having over 90% disapproval, while people in Western European countries were the most accepting, with Spain, Germany, and France expressing less than 10% disapproval.

A parasite single is a single person who lives with their parents beyond their late 20s or early 30s to enjoy a more carefree and comfortable life. In Japanese culture, the term is especially used when negatively describing young unmarried women.

A dating agency, also known as a marriage bureau, marriage agency, matrimonial bureau or matrimonial agency, is a business that provides matchmaking services to potential couples, with a view toward romance and/or marriage between them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spinster</span> Unmarried woman, often older

Spinster or old maid is a term referring to an unmarried woman who is older than what is perceived as the prime age range during which women usually marry. It can also indicate that a woman is considered unlikely to ever marry. The term originally denoted a woman whose occupation was to spin. The closest equivalent term for males is "bachelor" or "confirmed bachelor", but this generally does not carry the same connotations in reference to age and perceived desirability in marriage.

Bachelorette (/ˌbætʃələˈrɛt/) is a term used in American English for a single, unmarried woman. The term is derived from the word bachelor, and is often used by journalists, editors of popular magazines, and some individuals. "Bachelorette" was famously the term used to refer to female contestants on the old The Dating Game TV show and, more recently, The Bachelorette.

The Social Development Network (SDN), formerly of Social Development Unit (SDU) and Social Development Service (SDS), is a governmental body under the Ministry of Social and Family Development of Singapore. It works closely with the community and commercial sectors to foster opportunities for singles to interact in social settings in Singapore. Besides coordinating and facilitating dating activities offered by the private sector, it also serves to educate the public on singlehood issues. Other responsibilities of the SDN include providing the necessary infrastructure and support for the dating industry, as well as to ensure the professionalism of dating agencies through an accreditation council that was formed in 2007.

The marriage gap describes observed economic and political disparities in the United States between those who are married and those who are single. The marriage gap can be compared to, but should not be confused with, the gender gap. As noted by Dr. W. Bradford Wilcox, American sociologist and director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, and Wendy Wang, director of research at the Institute for Family Studies, "College-educated and more affluent Americans enjoy relatively strong and stable marriages and the economic and social benefits that flow from such marriages. By contrast, not just poor but also working-class Americans face rising rates of family instability, single parenthood, and lifelong singleness."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remarriage</span> Marriage following a previous marriage

Remarriage is a marriage that takes place after a previous marital union has ended, as through divorce or widowhood. Some individuals are more likely to remarry than others; the likelihood can differ based on previous relationship status, level of interest in establishing a new romantic relationship, gender, culture, and age among other factors. Those who choose not to remarry may prefer alternative arrangements like cohabitation or living apart together. Remarriage also provides mental and physical health benefits. However, although remarried individuals tend to have better health than individuals who do not repartner, they still generally have worse health than individuals who have remained continuously married. Remarriage is addressed differently in various religions and denominations of those religions. Someone who repeatedly remarries is referred to as a serial wedder.

A girlfriend is a woman who is a friend, acquaintance or partner to the speaker, usually a female companion with whom one is platonically, romantically, or sexually involved. In a romantic context, this normally signifies a committed relationship where the individuals are not married. Other titles, for example "wife" or "partner", usually signify that the individuals are legally married.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family in the United States</span> Overview of American family models

In the United States, the traditional family structure is considered a family support system involving two married individuals providing care and stability for their biological offspring. However, this two-parent, heterosexual, nuclear family has become less prevalent, and nontraditional family forms have become more common. The family is created at birth and establishes ties across generations. Those generations, the extended family of aunts and uncles, grandparents, and cousins, can hold significant emotional and economic roles for the nuclear family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African-American family structure</span> Matter of national public policy interest

Family Structure refers to the composition of a family, including present members and important figures from the past, as well as the quality of relationships among them. It can be visualized using a genogram to depict the family's structure, composition, and relationships. A nuclear family consists of a pair of adults and their sociologically recognized biological chlldren.

Sheng nü, translated as 'leftover women' or 'leftover ladies', are women who remain unmarried in their late twenties and beyond in China. The term was popularized by the All-China Women's Federation. Most prominently used in China, the term has also been used colloquially to refer to women in India, North America, Europe, and other parts of Asia. The term compares unmarried women to leftover food and has gone on to become widely used in the mainstream media and has been the subject of several television series, magazine and newspaper articles, and book publications, focusing on the negative connotations and positive reclamation of the term. While initially backed and disseminated by pro-government media in 2007, the term eventually came under criticism from government-published newspapers two years later. Xu Xiaomin of The China Daily described the sheng nus as "a social force to be reckoned with" and others have argued the term should be taken as a positive to mean "successful women". The slang term, 3S or 3S Women, meaning "single, seventies (1970s), and stuck" has also been used in place of sheng nu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Single women in the Middle Ages</span> Woman born between the 5th and 15th century who did not marry

During the Middle Ages in Europe, lifelong spinsters came from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, though elite women were less likely to be single than peasants or townswomen. The category of single women does not include widows or divorcees, which are terms used to describe women who were married at one point in their lives.

References

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  2. 1 2 Kislev, Elyakim (2019). Happy Singlehood: The Rising Acceptance and Celebration of Solo Living. University of California Press.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Record Share of Americans Have Never Married | Pew Research Center". 24 September 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  4. ↑ Whitley, Rob (28 September 2017). "Dating with Mental Illness: What Is It Like?". Psychology Today. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  5. ↑ DNews (12 January 2010). "China's Gender Gap Leaves Millions of Single Men".
  6. ↑ AFP/Discovery News, 12 January, 2010Alex Williams, "The New Math on Campus", New York Times, 5 February 2010
  7. ↑ "5 Reasons People Choose to Stay Single". Psychology Today. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  8. ↑ DSM-5-TR.
  9. ↑ Weckman, George (2005), "Monasticism: An Overview", in Jones, Lindsay (ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion, vol. 9 (2nd. ed.), Macmillan Reference USA, pp. 6121–6126, retrieved 23 April 2019
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  11. ↑ "Unmarried and Single Americans Week: Sept. 17-23, 2017". www.census.gov. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  12. ↑ Steverman, Ben (10 September 2024). "The Covid Pandemic Left an Extra 13 Million Americans Single". Bloomberg News . Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  13. ↑ "Single living is the new way to find happiness" [ dead link ]. Times Online. 3 August 2005. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  14. ↑ Schefft, J (2007). Better Single Than Sorry . Harper Collins. p.  12.
  15. ↑ Semuels, Alana (20 July 2017). "The Mystery of Why Japanese People Are Having So Few Babies". The Atlantic. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  16. ↑ Smith, Annabelle (13 February 2013). "Korea's Black Day: When Sad, Single People Get Together And Eat Black Food". Smithsonian. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  17. ↑ Robins-Early, Nick. "Alone On Valentine's Day? South Korea Has A Holiday Just For You". HuffPost. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  18. ↑ Herskovitz, Jon (14 April 2008). "South Korea's Black Day for love". Reuters. Seoul. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  19. ↑ "Flying Solo - Doc Zone". cbc.ca. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  20. ↑ "spinster - definition of spinster in English - Oxford Dictionaries". Archived from the original on 20 July 2012.
  21. ↑ Bolick, Kate (2015). Spinster : making a life of one's own (First ed.). New York. ISBN   9780385347136. OCLC   902726565.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  22. ↑ Lubowiecki-Vikuk, AP (2011). Determinants of recreational and tourism activity among single men and women from the Wielkopolska Province. AWF Poznan. pp. 12–17.
  23. ↑ "People living alone 'are more depressed'". BBC News. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  24. ↑ Emamzadeh, Arash (27 November 2022). "How Living Alone Increases the Risk of Depression". Psychology Today. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  25. ↑ "Women are happier without children or a spouse, says happiness expert". the Guardian. 25 May 2019.
  26. 1 2 " Health Benefits Of Being Single". Huffpost Healthy Living. 12 February 2013.
  27. ↑ " Marriage and men's health" Archived 2014-09-12 at the Wayback Machine . Harvard Health Publications. 10 July 2011.
  28. ↑ Jarice Hanson. (2007) 24/7: how cell phones and the Internet change the way we live, work, and play, p. 81
  29. ↑ Jane Ganahl. "The downside of cyber-romance", San Francisco Chronicle, 28 March 2004
  30. ↑ Roy S. Gutterman. "There's a Science (and Terminology) to the Process of Getting Rejected" Archived 2008-06-21 at the Wayback Machine , The (Philadelphia) Jewish Exponent, 3 April 2008
  31. ↑ Larry Glanz and Robert H. Phillips. (2003) Guy Gets Girl, Girl Gets Guy: Where to Find Romance and What to Say When You Find It, p. 59
  32. ↑ Monica B. Morris. (2005) Falling in love again: the mature woman's guide to finding romantic fulfillment, p. 80
  33. ↑ Jessica Gresko, Dec. 24 Becomes Party Night for Jewish Singles [ dead link ], Associated Press (Washington Post), 24 December 2006
  34. ↑ William July, II. (2003) Confessions of an ex-bachelor, p. 113
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  38. ↑ Traister, Rebecca (March 2016). All the single ladies : unmarried women and the rise of an independent nation (First Simon & Schuster hardcover ed.). New York. ISBN   9781476716565. OCLC   933728312.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

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