Singlehood Is Becoming a Social Category, Not Just a Status
Being single should also be treated as a way of life and identity.
Posted May 8, 2026 | Reviewed by Davia Sills
For decades, singlehood was treated as a problem to be solved. Researchers often asked why people were not married, what barriers kept them from partnering, or what negative outcomes were associated with being single. Marriage and, later, cohabitation were treated as the expected endpoints of adult life.
In my article, “ The study of singlehood: from a marginalized relationship status to an emerging social category ,” I argue that this framing is no longer enough. As more people delay marriage, divorce, live alone, or choose not to pursue romantic partnership, singlehood is becoming too common and too diverse to be understood as merely a temporary stage or personal deficit. Yes, many people still want to partner up, but others say they are fine single.
The article traces a shift in how scholars understand singlehood. The first stage viewed singlehood as a social deficit: a sign of loneliness , failure, or incomplete adulthood. The second stage recognized voluntary singlehood, acknowledging that some people actively choose single life and find autonomy, meaning, and satisfaction in it.
Singlehood as a Social Category
But the article goes further. It argues that singlehood should now be studied as a social category in its own right, similar to how scholars study gender , parenthood , sexuality , or family status. That means asking not only why people are single, but how singles live, how they understand themselves, and how institutions treat them.
Three areas are especially important. First, researchers are increasingly examining the lifestyles of singles. Many single people build rich social networks , invest in friendships, pursue meaningful work , travel, cultivate creativity , build community, and pursue personal growth. Their lives are not simply missing a partner. They may be organized around different values and relationships.
Second, singlehood can become an identity. For some, being single is temporary or peripheral. For others, it is a stable and authentic part of who they are. This matters because people who identify positively with singlehood may experience it less as a deprivation and more as a form of self-definition.
Third, singlehood has policy implications . Many laws, workplaces, housing systems, tax codes, and health care practices still assume that adults are—or should be—organized around marriage or couplehood. This can disadvantage singles financially, socially, and legally, especially when their closest support networks are friends, relatives, or chosen family rather than spouses.
The article also emphasizes that singlehood is not one experience . Age, gender, race, class, religion, sexuality, parenthood, culture, and geography all shape what it means to be single. A young urban professional, an older lifelong single person, a divorced parent, an asexual person, and a single woman in a marriage-centered culture may all face very different realities.
The larger message is clear: singlehood is no longer marginal. It is a major part of contemporary social life . Studying it seriously can help researchers, therapists, policymakers, and the public move beyond outdated assumptions and better understand how people build meaningful lives outside traditional couplehood.
As marriage rates decline and more people choose to remain single, scholars are beginning to study singlehood on its own terms rather than as a deviation from couplehood. Research today highlights how many singles build meaningful lives through friendships, autonomy, work, creativity, and community, while also facing social stigma and institutional disadvantages in areas such as taxes, health care, and housing. It is definitely a call for a broader understanding of intimacy , adulthood, and belonging in modern society.
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Elyakim Kislev, Ph.D. , is a faculty member at the Hebrew University and the author of Happy Singlehood: The Rising Acceptance and Celebration of Solo Living.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.