The concept ‘singleness’ has developed over the past years due to demographics trends and to the rise in single people in society as research conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) highlighted that in 2015 there was 34.5% single people aged 16 and over which is over a third of the UK population. Additionally, ONS highlighted that the number of people getting married has decreased by 8.6% in 2012 which illustrates that there has been a rise in single people. This may due to the rise in divorce rates as many people want to avoid the emotional and financial distress of divorce and because single women have now become more independent and career-oriented and become less focus on starting a family and relationship which may counterbalance …show more content…
However, this is an example of the pressure which single people experience in contemporary society and illustrates how problematic being single has become. This essay will discuss the issues and problems with singleness e.g singlism using theoretical perceptive and sociological literature. In addition, this essay also utilises empirical evidence to identify the problems with singleness and the benefits and advantages of singleness. So, where does the problem begin? The media. The media has become In addition, some sociologists have identified various issues surrounding singleness, and have highlighted that the category, which is most marginalised and stigmatised for being single, is females as there is a lack of focus on single men .(Sandfield & Percy, 2003). Additionally, this has become a growing issue in contemporary society, as women now must apologise for their marital status …show more content…
In addition, sociological literature highlighted that singleness has many beneficial aspects for both men and women; also, provides opportunities for self-development and self-actualization. This means that singleness improves with self-love and develops independence, this can be beneficial aspect to gain before entering a relationship as individuals needs to know their self-worth to prevent fear of singleness occurring. (Reynolds and Wetherell,
Intimacay vs. Isolation will occur in young adults starting around the age of 20 and go into their 30’s and beyond even. During this time young adults are faced with fears of “will I find a relationships” or “will I be alone forever”. In order for one to for any kinf of intimate relationship, young adults need to be trusting, must be capable of understanding others as well as themselves as person. The crisis that
At the beginning of her article she states how frustrating it was to be at the age she was and still not married or in a committed relationship. She had long relationships in high school up until her late 20’s but at 39 she was stuck. She wasn’t in any relationship but was finally ready for marriage; but the pool was small she was either going to have to stay single or just to settle. She had taken up her mother’s feminist ideas that she could be independent and didn’t have to marry or be with someone just because it was the societal norm. “I see now, is in keeping with a post¬ Boomer ideology that values emotional fulfillment above all else. And the elevation of independence over coupling (“I wasn’t ready to settle down”) is a second¬-wave feminist idea I’d acquired from my mother, who had embraced
More Americans are getting divorced at an astonishing rate, according to the McKinley Irvin Family Law, there are about 16,800 divorces per week. This phenomenon has triggered a general panic among young adults. Therefore, animated by their fear of getting divorced, young adults have elaborated a new solution to avoid divorce which is cohabitation. They see cohabitation as a test to avoid divorce. However, does cohabitation really work? Meg Jay in her text entitled “The Downside of Living Together” defends the idea that seeing cohabitation as a preventive way to avoid divorce leads to increase the chance of divorce. I believe that cohabitation
Every 13 seconds, couples in America get divorced (Palacios). What is pushing these couples to get married if half of the marriages fail anyway? Leading into the 21st century, people decide to choose the single life over the married life, and use their energy and time towards rebounding, money, material love, power, freedom, pride, and their career. Superficial love often conquers idealistic love in today’s society due to one’s self-interest persuading them away from love.
The main thesis of Eric Klinenberg’s book, Going Solo, is that living alone is a poorly understood subject by society, even as time went on. Living solo shapes our cities and economies, and how we grow in to our old age (Klinenberg, 2012, p. 16-17). It differs from many mainstream interpretations of “living alone” in contemporary society due to the fact that it offers a positive perspective on the topic; it also explains how the negative connotations of “living alone” were misconstrued due to datas being overstated from a paper that was published back in 1984 and 2004 (Klinenberg, 2012, p. 19). Social scientists, as well as general readers, didn’t take this into consideration, hence, the public put a shame on men and women who live the single life for too long. This negative connotation hurts single women even more because of family’s pressure of marriage and birth, on top of that, single women have a heavier workload than married women due to the misconception that they have more free time. Not only that, but single women who work more don’t get pay as much as they should for their extra effort.
At twenty-five years of age, I’ve attained many of the goals I set for myself as a young girl, starting a successful career in Corporate America, gaining financial freedom and traveling the globe. Yet, to many of my relatives, it seems my life is still lacking the most critical ingredient – a husband. While in college, my single status seemed more acceptable. However, as I have continued to focus on my career instead of a husband and as I have reached the magic twenty-five, the choice to remain single has become an increasing concern for my family.
In the trajectory of humanity, single parenting has become a concept internationally accepted by most modern cultures. What exactly causes single parenthood? Well there are many factors in which could result in a single parent household. Death of a partner, divorce, and unintended pregnancy are just some of the causes of single parenthood. Based on this worldwide acknowledgement and understanding, single parenthood is usually aided by monetary help from the government or unions. Although financial help is available, the psychological effects a child goes through could never be fixed by any type of cash value. These psychological traumas and mental changes could affect the parent raising the child as well. Even with some financial help, single parents sometimes struggle to make ends meet. A study featured in Time magazine informed Americans that middle to lower class single parents will work 40+ hour weeks at minimum wage to provide for their child. If the parent is so busy at work, who's watching the child? Sometimes, the single parent might still have connection with their own families. Grandma and grandpa have to raise the child since the parent is hard at labor to provide for their offspring. Occasionally, some of our elderly folk do not have the competence to watch over a child. It might even be that the child is too energetic and could wear out the seniors. The child will then resort to the television, street, friends, etc to learn and grow. These influences might be negative for the child especially if they're not coming from the mother or father. An investigation of single parenting leads to the affirmation that raising a child by yourself is very difficult and must be approached very leniently and effectively.
Rebecca Traister’s All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation provides insight on what it is like being a single woman living in America in current and past times. Traister interviewed more than 100 single women to give their personal stories, which makes the readers think about themselves and how they can relate to them. All the Single Ladies is an investigation into the sexual, economic, and emotional lives of women in America. Traister argues that there are unknown unset society rules for women that women are expected to fulfill like marriage and children and those cliché stereotypes must be broken. Some women desire to be married and other women are concentrated on finding themselves which Traister argues
Single parent homes are becoming more common as time goes on. With this growing number, the traditional nuclear family seems to be less relevant. Welna reports that “[t]he portion of children living with a single parent has jumped over a generation from 1 out of 20 to about 1 out of 5 children” (1999, p. xii). Within a few decades, single parenting became very common among the modern society. This is a large shift and changes civilization. However, this difference it isn’t expressed very much. Television doesn’t show a lot of representation for
The Family structure has changed significantly in the last fifty years. With higher percentages of marriage ending in divorce, and higher rates of childbearing out of wedlock, single parent families are increasing rapidly. “Seventy percent of all the children will spend all or part of their lives in a single-parent household.” (Dowd) Studies have shown that the children of these families are affected dramatically, both negatively and positively. Women head the majority of single- parent families and as a result, children experience many social problems from growing up without a father. Some of these problems include lack of financial support, and various emotional problems by not having a father around, which may contribute to problems later in life. At the same time, children of single-parent homes become more independent because they learn to take care of themselves, and rely on others to do things for them.
Nonetheless, the study will still cover economic hardships since the two are closely related. The study will attempt to prove that single mothers are disadvantaged socially and economically. The study is segmented into two main sections; firstly, a background depicting researches in this field. Secondly, the study will present an argumentative literature attempting to clarify that single mothers do have a genuine problem not only economically, but as well socially in upbringing their children. To achieve this, the essay appoints Langston Hughes Poem ‘Mother to Son’ as a derivative reference point in developing this study. Research has traditionally focused in examining the emancipation of the female gender during their development. However, few researchers have intrinsically examined on the adult-life of single parents, more so in relation to women. The few efforts relating to this field like Williams (179) exemplifies that women suffer the greatest menace while trying support their single-parented families...
The family is the main agent of socialisation and an institution. (Giddens, 2013:339). As children, we rely on our family to fulfil basic needs. We all need guidance, and more importantly we also require nurturing to become healthy adults. The definition of family varies across cultures. However, the family is sensitive to change and, therefore, not static. The structure of the family has changed, and culture and society are now more accepting of the fact that people now choose to cohabit, rather than marry. (Haralambos & Holborn 2009:3). In 2013, there were nearly 1.9 million lone parent households with dependent children in the United Kingdom; a figure which has steadily increased over the years (Office of National Statistics 2013). The rise in lone parents has brought about greater acceptance of pregnancies that do not have to involve marriage although acceptance is not the concern. A study suggests that….
The debate on whether to get married or stay single has been raging for a long while, with both sides of the coin having their own pros and cons regarding the matter. Many proponents of either marriage or single life have strong individual convictions, and it is difficult to reach a definitive objective conclusion. Is the married individual happier than his/her single counterpart, or is getting married just a comfort seeking ritual that people believe they have to fulfill at some point in their lives? It is necessary to dissect this issue in the light of four factors: health and other medical factors, the economic and finance front, mental and emotional wellbeing and lastly, the social factor.
Being single also has its positive features. You can do whatever you want to; you are not limited by girlfriend or wife who usually you have to listen to. We decide about our life and no matter what we do, it is always our choice, basically we are responsible for decisions that we made.
Getting married is the most important event in our life. From time to time, they always say, “Single life is a sweet dream and marriage is an alarm clock.” This proverb could make young people afraid when deciding whether or not they marry. However, there are differences that indicate pros and cons of both single life and married life. In general, single life can bring us freedom to experience life all by ourselves; at the same time, it also brings loneliness and detachment. In contrast, married life can fulfill us with love, care, and a sense of belonging; however, it also requires us a great deal of shared responsibilities. Understanding the differences between single life and married life especially on finance, emotion, and responsibility