A disturbing and saddening first in recorded history is reportedly emerging in America as nearly 30 percent of households are now comprised of a single person in what experts view as a social transformation as opposed to a trend.

The number is a record high. And it’s not just happening in America but across the globe. The experts are calling those living alone “solitaries.”

“It’s just a stunning social change,” Eric Klinenberg, a sociologist at New York University and author of the book “Going Solo,” remarked. “I came to see it as the biggest demographic change in the last century that we failed to recognize and take seriously.”

Humans are social animals that have historically done much better socioeconomically, physically, and mentally when they interact with other people. We have lived in social groups for as long as man has kept records, going back to at least the 16th century.

Not long after technology makes it possible to communicate and interact with most of the world, the trend is for people to now live alone. That tracks

— BootsonRock (@Wren85D) July 10, 2023

Those living alone made up 8 percent of all households back in 1940, according to the US Census. In 1970, that number rose to 18 percent. By 2022, it had alarmingly risen to 29 percent.

The Hill reports, “The solo-living movement intersects with several other societal trends. Americans are marrying later, if at all. The nation is aging. The national birthrate is falling. People are living longer — or they were, until the pandemic arrived.”

“More than anything, perhaps, the rise of single-person households is about women entering the workforce and achieving economic self-sufficiency. The share of adult women participating in the labor force reached 50 percent around 1980,” the media outlet continued.

Klinenberg went woke in his commentary and asserted that historically speaking, “You don’t really see people living alone until women have control of their own lives and their own bodies.”

“Does the rising population of solitaries signal a bold new age of independence and self-governance, or the end of human society as we know it? Maybe a little of both, experts say,” The Hill contended.

“Living alone can be a dream come true,” Bella DePaulo, author of the forthcoming book “Single at Heart,” delusionally stated.

She noted that living alone means “you get to curate your own life. You decide when to go to sleep and when to get up, what and when to eat, what to watch or to listen to for entertainment, and how warm or cool your place will be. No more fighting over the thermostat.”

What she doesn’t say is that living that way can be unbearably lonely for many. Something that the Biden administration is capitalizing on.

(Video Credit: PBS)

Not all experts view the trend as positive either, especially when it comes to older Americans or those who have lost a loved one.

The New York Times attempted to have it both ways, stating, “While many people in their 50s and 60s thrive living solo, research is unequivocal that people aging alone experience worse physical and mental health outcomes and shorter life spans.”

The declining birth rate is of major concern as well.

“I think it’s something we should be worried about,” Wendy Wang, who is the director of research at the Institute for Family Studies, a conservative think tank, argued. “If we have fewer and fewer children, that means we have fewer people to work, to be consumers, to pay taxes.”

The Hill went on to report:

Wang notes that low fertility rates are a global problem. Indeed, solo households are far more common across much of Europe than in the United States. According to United Nations data, solitaries make up 39 percent of households in Denmark, 45 percent in Finland, 42 percent in Germany, 38 percent in the Netherlands, 39 percent in Norway and 40 percent in Sweden

 

Living alone is evidently much more common in large cities. Singles now make up over 40 percent of households in Atlanta, Seattle, San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Denver, according to a paper by the British historian Keith Snell. Half of all Manhattan dwellings are notably one-person residences.

Many factors play into people winding up alone. Women tend to live longer than men and divorce is extremely prevalent now. Living alone is no longer a stigma either. But there is always the loneliness issue that plagues many who find themselves alone and adrift.

“Researchers consider living alone a risk factor for loneliness and social isolation, conditions associated with a host of physical and mental maladies, from heart disease to obesity to anxiety and depression,” The Hill noted.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) has even ridiculously proposed legislation to end loneliness.

Anti-gun Dem Senator Chris Murphy now pushing bill to end loneliness https://t.co/CgG4jO7BfU pic.twitter.com/SpGIiMuoqr

— BizPac Review (@BIZPACReview) June 17, 2023

However, there are those that thrive on being on their own.

“People can live alone and still be vibrant community members,” Barbara Risman, a professor of sociology at the University of Illinois Chicago, said according to The Hill. “One can live alone and have a tight family network, friends who care about you and you talk to on a daily or weekly basis.”

The trend of living alone portends bad things for countries across the globe as demographics shift, birth rates plummet, and a large portion of the population ages and passes away. Despite what experts say, people are meant to socialize more than just via a computer or a smartphone.

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