I have posted before about the research of Eric Klinenberg into the growing number of households of one — adults who are living along largely by choice and who are tend to be more social in many respects than their partnered peers.
Tonight, Ray Suarez had an excellent segment/interview with Klinenberg: ‘Going Solo’: What’s the Appeal of Living Alone?
From the piece:
In 1950, 22 percent of American adults were single, 4 million lived alone. They accounted for 9 percent of all households.
Flash forward to today. More than 50 percent of American adults are single — 31 million — and about one out of every seven live alone. They make up 28 percent of all households.
These so-called singletons are the focus of a new book by Eric Klinenberg, a sociologist at New York University, “Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Suprising Appeal of Going Alone.”
As is noted at the end of the following interview, this major demographic shift will have huge impacts on public policy, architecture, and many other fields as we get deeper into the 21st century.
Watch Extended Interview: Eric Klinenberg’s ‘Going Solo’ on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.