Going Solo

The book Going Solo by Eric Klinenberg was an interesting read.  I guess the most interesting thing were the statistics he quoted in the early part of the book.


"Numbers never tell the whole story, but in this case the statistics are startling.  In 1950, 22 percent of American adults were single.  Four million live alone and they accounted for 9 percent of all households...Today , more than 50 percent of American adults are single, and 31 million -- roughly one out of every seven adults -- live alone.  (This figure excludes the 8 million Americans who live in voluntary and non-voluntary group quarters, such as assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and prisons.)  People who live alone make up 28 percent of all U.S. households, which means that they are now tied with childless couples as the most prominent residential type -- more common than the nuclear family, the multigenerational family, and the roommate or group home.  Surprisingly, living alone is also one of the most stable household arrangements.  Over a five-year period, people who live alone are more likely to stay that way than everyone except married couples with children.  


Contemporary solo dwellers are primarily women:  about 17 million, compared to 14 million men.  The majority more than 15 million, are middle-age adults between the ages of thirty-five and sixty-four.  The elderly account for about 10 million of the total.  Young adults between eighteen and thirty-four number more than 5 million, compared to 500,000 in 1950, making them the fastest-growing segment of the solo-dwelling population."


I think the greatest issue he points out is the need for different types of housing for single person households including different types of housing as people age.