The Rise of Solo Fulfilment: Embracing Single Positivity

Published 04 September 2023

Author
Nienke Creemers
2 min read

Attitudes towards singledom are shifting: 57% of single Americans aren’t looking for a romantic relationship, and among those who are, just 13% want a committed one (Pew, 2022). Stylus explores the evolving conversation around single positivity (a topic we’ve been tracking since 2020).

  • Single & Proud: While half of single American men are eager for romance, only 35% of single women feel the same way (Pew, 2022). Paul Dolan, professor of behavioural science at the London School of Economics, explains that “the healthiest and happiest population subgroup are women who never married or had children”, as they report higher life satisfaction than their wedded counterparts (The Times, 2023). Women are championing single positivity on TikTok, where the hashtag #DateYourself (208.3 million views) features videos of women going to cinemas, concerts and restaurants on their own. See Solo Leisure Soars: Celebrating Alone Time for more.

 

  • Publishing’s Singledom Spotlight: Books about singledom are proliferating. The 2022 essay collection Unattached by British author Angelica Malin explores the benefits and challenges of being a single woman, while The Lonely Hunter by American Aimée Lutkin (2022) chronicles the pressure to couple up, and Single AF Cocktails by US reality star Ariana Madix recounts her well-publicised break-up. Meanwhile, the messy reality of divorce is spotlit in American journalist Lyz Lenz’s This American Ex-Wife (February 2024), and British photographer Harry Borden’s On Divorce shares portraits of people in the midst of separation (September 2023).

 

  • Supportive Workplaces: Companies are introducing benefits to employees navigating divorce. US publisher Hearst debuted its divorce programme in partnership with family finance platform SupportPay in September 2022. Benefits include free therapy sessions and legal assistance. And British charity The Parents Promise launched an HR initiative to give employees going through divorce benefits such as flexible schedules and counselling.

 

For more, stay tuned for Millennials Evolve Adulthood, part of our Future Consumer Life Cycle 24/25 report series, publishing on September 11.

  • Single & Proud: While half of single American men are eager for romance, only 35% of single women feel the same way (Pew, 2022). Paul Dolan, professor of behavioural science at the London School of Economics, explains that “the healthiest and happiest population subgroup are women who never married or had children”, as they report higher life satisfaction than their wedded counterparts (The Times, 2023). Women are championing single positivity on TikTok, where the hashtag #DateYourself (208.3 million views) features videos of women going to cinemas, concerts and restaurants on their own. See Solo Leisure Soars: Celebrating Alone Time for more.

 

  • Publishing’s Singledom Spotlight: Books about singledom are proliferating. The 2022 essay collection Unattached by British author Angelica Malin explores the benefits and challenges of being a single woman, while The Lonely Hunter by American Aimée Lutkin (2022) chronicles the pressure to couple up, and Single AF Cocktails by US reality star Ariana Madix recounts her well-publicised break-up. Meanwhile, the messy reality of divorce is spotlit in American journalist Lyz Lenz’s This American Ex-Wife (February 2024), and British photographer Harry Borden’s On Divorce shares portraits of people in the midst of separation (September 2023).

 

  • Supportive Workplaces: Companies are introducing benefits to employees navigating divorce. US publisher Hearst debuted its divorce programme in partnership with family finance platform SupportPay in September 2022. Benefits include free therapy sessions and legal assistance. And British charity The Parents Promise launched an HR initiative to give employees going through divorce benefits such as flexible schedules and counselling.

 

For more, stay tuned for Millennials Evolve Adulthood, part of our Future Consumer Life Cycle 24/25 report series, publishing on September 11.