Modern Women Living Alone

FRANCINE KOPUN - March 8th, 2006.

According to a new study more women are living on their own.

Bridget Jones had it right — there are more women living alone these days than ever before, at least in Canada. Women are marrying less, divorcing more and outliving the men they do stay with, according to a Statistics Canada study released yesterday.

Women’s Statistics:

The StatsCan findings come as the world celebrates International Women's Day today.

In 2001, more than 1.5 million women — 14 per cent of the total female population aged 15 and over — were living alone, more than double the total in 1971.

Unlike Bridget of the famous diary, a thirty-something singleton who chronicles her search for love in London, Canadian Bridgets are more likely to be silver-haired than still chasing Mr. Right. Seniors are by far the most likely women to live alone.

Roughly half of the women living solo were aged 65 and over.

It wouldn't be that way if Canadian men were hardier. Despite impressive gains in lifespans for men, a girl born in 2001 can expect to live on average five years longer than her male counterpart. Typically, women are widows for longer than that, even though Canadian men choose brides two years younger than themselves, according to the Statistics Canada study.

"Women have a lot of their own things going already, so they don't need a man per se like they did years and years ago," said Ragna Stamm'ler, who, as president of the dating service 25dates.com, has become something of an expert on single life. "They would like one, but they don't need one."

Microscope specialist Jennifer Melo, 32, is proof of that. She bought her own townhouse in Mississauga three years ago. Two months ago she broke up with her boyfriend of 18 months. Before that she'd been single for four years.

"For me, it's probably more of a comfort zone to be single," she said. Monday nights are for volleyball, Tuesday is Spanish class; she just finished looking after a dog in training for the Dog Guides of Canada. She has lots of time for family and friends.

"I guess I enjoy being single, I enjoy meeting people and having a lot of friends. It's not like I need to be in a committed relationship," she said.

Even women with children are increasingly going it without men — there were more than 1 million single moms in Canada in 2001. In fact, 20 per cent of families with children are headed by single moms, according to the study.

More of those moms are working. By 2004, 65 per cent of all women with children under 3 were employed, more than double the figure in 1976. The figure is slightly higher for single moms.

"The changes we listed, when you really put them all together, are really quite profound," said Colin Lindsay, author of the StatsCan study, called Women in Canada.

This is the fifth edition of the statistical study, which is updated every five years.

The number of households headed by single moms should be of particular interest to policy makers, said Lindsay, since 38 per cent of such families fell into the low-income category in 2003. Only 13 per cent of families headed by single men were low income.

In fact, women continue to earn about 70 per cent of what men earn in the workplace. While 90 per cent of that discrepancy is explained by the fact that women hold lower-paying jobs and work fewer hours, 10 per cent of the disparity cannot be accounted for, said Lindsay.

Other findings of the report: