Understanding the Demography and Stratification of Singlehood in Europe

Amid declining marriage and fertility rates, singlehood is rapidly gaining scholarly attention. Yet, singlehood scholarship is remarkably fragmented and underdeveloped. Existing theories are divided between narratives of singlehood as an unfavorable outcome or an empowering life choice.

Moreover, existing frameworks are limited by a glaring inconsistency in the measurement of singlehood, an overwhelming focus on young adults, and a general neglect of cross-national and intersectional approaches.

These limitations undermine our ability to establish a comprehensive, holistic framework that answers fundamental questions: (1) what the scope of singlehood is in the adult population and (2) how social stratification is reproduced within the single population.SINGLE proposes to resolve these tensions by taking an unprecedented, comprehensive, comparative approach that bridges demographic and sociological debates and pays attention to the diverse challenges and opportunities that single life offers.

First, SINGLE takes a population approach by establishing a Demography of Singlehood framework that will produce and disseminate estimates of the prevalence, composition, and duration of singlehood across Europe using various large-scale secondary data sources.

Through novel data collection, SINGLE will also offer pioneering insights into singles’ self-identification and motivation to be single to improve our understanding of selection and terminology in singlehood research.

Second, SINGLE takes a stratification approach to expand our understanding of social inequality within the single population.

SINGLE will disentangle how demographic, economic, and cultural forces systematically shape singles’ unequal outcomes within and across countries.

By documenting singles’ time use, well-being, perceived pressure to partner, and access to support systems, SINGLE will reframe our knowledge of the complexity and diversity of European singlehood.