The Trend of Being Single

The Case In the recent years being single has become more and more socially acceptable. Now you can have a life separate from a significant other. According to Sam Roberts’s article in the New York Times (2006) the percentage of single people is greatly increasing. The article focuses on the lifestyle choices of either staying single or choosing a life with partners living unmarried and the social and economic effects it has on our lives. Andrew Beveridge, a demographer from the Queens College of the City University of New York and a source in his article states that the sudden trend in being single is influenced by the economically secure women in the workforce who used to get married for the gain of things they could not achieve alone. These new abilities and opportunities have greatly changed this lifestyle leaving more people to stay single longer and more people cohabitating but no long term marital commitment. Another thing about the trend of being single longer is not just an American trend. We have found in many countries that the trend of being single by choice is growing all over the world and the age of marriage is getting higher and higher. Bella De Paulo (2008) talks about the increasing independence of both men and women and the increase in spending more of people’s early adult years unmarried either living alone or with their parents. This article also points out this is happening in both developed countries like Australia, United Kingdom and the United states as well as in countries considered as developing such as Morocco, Malaysia and the Bahamas. It also states that in the end we cannot make marriage the primary source of commitment anymore. Lastly, Tamala Edwards wrote an article for Time Magazine called “Flying Solo.” This article talked about the success of a Houston, Texas woman taking a stand and making her own after the break up of a ten year relationship to find out that she loves being single more. This article goes into detail

References: DePaulo, Bella. 2008. “Living Single Longer: It’s a Global Phenomenon.” Psychology Today, November 1. Retrieved July 15, 2011 (http://www.psychologytoday.com/print/2226). Edwards, Tamala M. 2000. “Flying Solo.” Time Pacific, August 20. Retrieved July 15, 2011 (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,52954,00.html). Roberts, Sam. 2006. “To Be Married Means to Be Outnumbered.” The New York Times, October 15. Retrieved July 15, 2011 (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/us/15census.html?pagewanted=print).