the-rise-and-rise-of-singledom

It doesn’t take data to observe what’s already quite apparent—the fact that the world was a ‘very married’ place half a century ago, but now it’s being replaced by singles with a silent ferocity. Not very long ago, across cultures and communities, those above 30 and still single formed a minority at family gatherings. Pop culture and celluloid is testimony to how the thirty-something singles were not probed but rather pitied for being without a partner. 

 

The rise of feminism, critical thinking skills questioning conventional value systems, all played their part in changing social dynamics. Social media came by and upended the cultural and social discourse around marriage, singlehood and divorce.

 

Alice Evans, visiting professor at Stanford, currently working on the book “The Great Gender Divergence” with Princeton University Press, recently shared, “In January 2024, I went to Hong Kong and South Korea and realised the rise of singles. Cobbling together more data, I found the same trend in Europe, Latin America, North America, North Africa.”

 

She further notes, “When men and women can exit, they only stay if the other person is charming, fun and cooperative. In patriarchal countries, women are culturally leapfrogging via social media, and raising the bar, demanding better.”

 

A contrast to most East Asian cultures, where marriage was a compulsion and staying single wasn’t really a choice. For the fractional minority of individuals who did stay single, it was a circumstance—an old parent to look after, a young child to take care of, a deformity; they all minimised the chances of finding a partner.

 

However, the statistics have long tipped. Last year, a Rasmussen Report poll of over 1200 Americans highlighted that 37 per cent of single adults under 30 were not even interested in dating. Almost every poll and survey conducted on the subject points at a very similar scenario. If the current data is clear, then the predictions, are in fact, record setting. A Morgan Stanley study predicts that approximately 45 per cent of women in the prime age range of 25 to 44 will be childless and single by 2030.

 

Also read: Love in the time of algorithms

 

The clear and pronounced shift in societal dynamics is not restricted to one generation, but has been long in the making. A Pew Centre Research that analysed data from 2019, found that four in ten adults (roughly 38 per cent) were un-partnered (neither married nor living with a partner) in 2019, a number significantly up from 29 per cent in 1990.

 

Singles in India

 

India is no exception to the trend, this despite the well-documented and stereotyped cultural obsession with marriage, weddings, settling down and children. The numbers and data in India across rural and urban areas fit into the larger ever-growing landscape of singlehood across the globe. According to a survey conducted in 2025 by dating app QuackQuack, 1 in 3 millennial daters believe that the concept of marriage and relationships will look even more different in the next decade. Of the 10, 340 active daters surveyed for the data, more than 39 per cent of daters above the age of 28 from metros and suburban areas were of the opinion that marriage is no longer a life milestone and is in fact optional. The participants were active daters between the age of 22 and 35 from metros, suburban and rural areas of India, from different backgrounds like healthcare, IT, finance, banking and academics.

 

But, not ready to mingle

 

The reasons for several older millennials and Gen Z preferring singlehood over settling down are long, varied and in many cases, even telling. A 2020-study, titled “Singles’ Reasons for Being Single: Empirical Evidence From an Evolutionary Perspective”, rated 92 possible causes for singlehood. The study, compiled from a sample size of 648 American singles, lists “different priorities, freedom, being too picky” among the most important reasons for not being involved in any committed long term relationship or a marriage.

 

Hollywood is overflowing with formidable names who chose to never marry and stay uncoupled while being wedded to their career, work, charity, or pets. “Next time you see a single woman, congratulate her, instead of asking her where her boyfriend or husband is,” once wrote American actor and producer Chelsea Handler in a thought-provoking but also smile-inducing lengthy piece in 2016. “It’s not just ok to be single for both men and women, it’s wonderful to be single, and society needs to embrace singlehood in all its splendiferous, solitary glory.”

 

While Handler popularly likened the ring on the finger to a male paperweight, actor Whoopi Goldberg’s reason for staying single, till date connects with those not ready to take the plunge. “I don’t want anybody in my house,” she once shared, in a quote that went viral for its relatability. Several data sets although throw light on how singlehood sometimes contributes to feelings of loneliness, but that doesn’t seem to have affected the eagerness to take on a partner.

 

Dating platforms and marriage apps threw open the choices, while economic independence took the pressure off settling down for both genders. Once the imaginary and cultural deadlines for being partnered by a certain age went away, marriage became optional, while singlehood, intentional.

 

By Manpriya Singh