Sunshine Recorder

Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone

More than half of all adults—100 million or so—are currently single; about one in seven, or around 31 million, are living alone. In Manhattan and Washington, D.C., single people make up half of all households. Nationwide, single people now outnumber nuclear families.

This shift, however, has not made American society more atomized or anonymous, explains Eric Klinenberg in his revealing book, Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone. In fact, Klinenberg, a professor of sociology at New York University (and a Mother Jones contributor), has found that the benefits of being single far outweigh the disadvantages. “Singletons” living by themselves report that they’re equally or more fulfilled than their more domesticated peers. They are more likely to have active social lives and to be engaged in their communities—so much for bowling alone. For instance, Klinenberg notes, “Women who live alone who are considerably more likely to volunteer than women who are married. Marriages are very greedy, especially with women’s time.”

Yet the unexpected plusses of living on one’s own are good news for all of us, whatever our current living arrangements: The typical American now spends most of his or her adult life unmarried and living alone. The impacts of this unprecedented change can be seen in everything from the battles over gay marriage and contraception to trends in child rearing and suburban architecture. Klinenberg spoke about the enduring biases against singletons, the environmental benefits of singledom, why single people aren’t yet a political force, and why being on one’s own is different from loneliness.