Stop telling single people what to do with their lives

Two articles caught the attention of singles recently. The first was from demographer, Paul Morland, entitled “Should we tax the childless?” featured in The Sunday Times, and the second in The Telegraph, “Child-free travellers should be banned from going on holiday this summer”.

These aren’t only directed at singles; it targets any solo traveller, any couple that doesn’t want children, anyone that can’t have children, and a whole host of groups that want to enjoy the summer sunshine, or people that can only go away during the summer holidays, whether they have children or not.

And this is just the published articles. Singles are used to the constant expectation to be dating, and to be sharing their trials and tribulations of the experience which can be questioned more than their coupled-up counterparts. If you try telling someone you’re “enjoying being single” you might be met with a refusal to accept that statement, which is often followed up with a response of, “you’ll change your mind when you meet the right one”.

Why are singles under attack?

Single people can be seen an easy target. We are individuals that aren’t necessarily following the societal expectations to settle down, get married and have children. It easy to pit and “us” versus “them” scenario when it also appears that we get a lot of perks. When you’re single you have more freedom, more time, less commitments, more disposable income, and quite simply more peace. Not all of those will be true for every single - some throw themselves into projects, some have strong family commitments, and the cost of living alone can balance out the disposable income it might appear we have access to.