Advice

Celebrate! Embrace the single life

Dion

11-11-2020 · 987 views · 0 comments

This week, the world puts a spotlight on singles. That doesn’t happen often, even though the number of singles has been growing exponentially since the seventies. Time to get rid of the myths surrounding single life and shed some light on the benefits of being single. A small preview: singles are more creative, more active, have a larger social network, and experience less stress. Why that is the case and why don’t we usually hear a lot about it will all be revealed here.

Singles in the spotlight

Analyses from the Office for National Statistics shows that the number of singles in the UK grows rapidly. Since 1997, the number has increased with more than 16 percent to almost 8 million people. It is believed that it will even increase to over 20 million within twenty years. That means that one in seven adults in the UK is single in 2040. Enough reason for us to shine some light on Singles’ Week and explain why being single isn’t synonymous with being lonely. Time to break the taboo surrounding single life.

Why there are more and more singles

A couple of decades ago, it was a no-go to grow old alone. Especially single women were in trouble financially if they had no partner. The man of the house was responsible for the financial part of the household after all. Married women were legally incapacitated and weren’t allowed to get a job. If you wanted to get a divorce, you were shunned by the church community. Oh, and definitely not unimportant: social media posts that continuously make you feel like there is someone out there who’s better than your partner didn’t exist yet either! All of this essentially leads to four reasons why the number of singles continues to increase:

More divorces (in combination with an ageing population)
Women are financially independent
Society changes
(Too) high expectations (partially caused by social media)

The main advantages of being single

A relationship isn’t essential to a happy life. In fact, various researches show that singles are happier than married couples in many instances. Read on to find out why.

Freedom and creativity

Spending a lot of time on your own doesn’t mean that you’re lonely. In fact, it often leads to more creativity and freedom. That was already demonstrated in the nineties. Social scientist and ‘single specialist’ DePaulo confirms this, among other things, in an inspiring TedTalk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyZysfafOAs

Lower BMI

In 2015, a popular scientific magazine researched the difference in BMI between single and married people in Europe. The conclusion? Singles generally have a lower BMI. Married people weighed over 4 pounds more than single people. Which is actually not that strange if you consider that single men work out three minutes more per week than men who are in a relationship. With women, the difference is even more than five minutes per week! It’s also notable that married women visit their GP more often than single women.

Self-development

Getting support from your partner is great in difficult times. You also learn a lot from each other in many different ways. As a single person, you have to rely on yourself more. That requires a strong character. The advantage is that singles get more fulfilment out of their self-reliance.

“Singles get more fulfilment out of being self-sufficient than married people.”

Research also shows that singles tend to seek out challenging life experiences and they view problems in a more positive light than people who are married. So consider your options well before tying the knot 😉

Also read: The importance of self-love

Extended social network

Everyone knows someone who seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth as soon as they were in a steady relationship. Unfortunately, that’s not an uncommon phenomenon. Singles tend to have larger social networks, see their friends more often, and help more people. That leads to a happier existence. In fact, friendships become more and more important to your happiness in life as you get older. This is true for all singles, not matter their gender, age, and income level. So it’s worth considering maintaining your friendships as best you can when you’re in a relationship.

Better sex life

You might expect married couples to be the most satisfied with their sex life, but in reality, this isn’t the case. Research shows that singles without marriage plans are most satisfied with their sex life. This group of singles also don’t feel the need to find a partner as much as singles who are struggling with their sex life.

Less materialistic

It’s remarkable that married couples are less satisfied with their financial situation than people who aren’t married. The reason?Married couples are generally speaking more materialistic. Singles on the other hand attach more value to friendships, a rich social life, and a fun job. Married people often prioritise financial gain and have a higher fear of getting fired.

Celebrate Singles’ Week with luxury toys

Despite the fact that the taboo surrounding single life slowly disappears, there is still much pressure from society to find a partner. As a child, you read many stories where people live happily ever after with a partner, even though a partner isn’t necessary to live happily ever after. Most romantic movies have a happy ending and not many movies end with someone breaking the mold by living happily ever after as a single person (except Elsa😁). Fortunately, the world doesn’t work that way and this is all just fantasy. Since we’re putting singles in the spotlight this week, we’re offering special single deals. Go for a luxury toy to optimally enjoy self-love. If society won’t put you on a pedestal, we will, with love.

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Celebrate! Embrace the single life

Singles in the spotlight

Why there are more and more singles