It used to be that a woman would fall in love young and marry not long after, with many being married by their early twenties.
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Now, if a woman announces she’s getting married at 21, alarms bells start going off and it almost seems strange to commit so young.
Are we becoming more comfortable in single life or are there other factors affecting why there are more single women?
The Office of National Statistics today announced that we are now five times more likely to be single than 40 years ago.
Not only this, but now it seems that women are leading the change as their increase was 3 per cent above the men’s.
So why is it that women are more likely to be single now? Is it because we’re more comfortable being single and there isn’t so much pressure to marry or because we have such high expectations?
Mary Balfour, of introduction agency Drawing Down the Moon, thinks that it could be a combination of both.
She says, “I think it is key to note that women are embracing independence now more than ever and it is, at last, economically viable for women to live alone from choice.
“In spite of media messages urging coupledom, many women have blossomed into emotional and economic self-sufficiency without a partner.
“This means that when two people do decide to come together, it’s a fusion of two wholes rather than two halves, resulting in the fact that sometimes women can feel that their freedom is being sacrificed.”
Mary also believes that women are being too expectant when it comes to what they want from a man in a relationship.
She says, “Some of the key trends I have seen in dating that may be of influence to this rise in the ‘lonely single’ are elements such as high relationship expectations.
“It is interesting to see that there are a larger percentage of single females living alone and one factor of this could be due to over-ambitious wish lists in a partner.
“I have seen many females joining my agency who have such ambitious wish lists that they are ultimately setting themselves up for failure and could even be unconsciously defending themselves against going into a relationship.”
Are you a single lady? Do you prefer being independent? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below or tweeting us @FemaleFirst_UK