More people across the world are happy being single and living alone, according to a new book, and author Eric Klinenberg explains why going solo doesn't always mean being lonely and depressed, contrary to misconceptions.
You've likely seen a movie or TV show where someone living alone was portrayed as a loner, recluse or weirdo. Who lives solo these days, right? Happy people are married with nuclear families and a busy household, or so Hollywood would like us to believe.
NYU sociology professor Eric Klinenberg says nope, that's not true at all. His new book Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprisingly Appeal of Living Alone documents one of the most seismic demographic shifts since the baby boom: in 1950, only 4 million Americans lived alone. Today, around 32 million Americans live alone, and that figure is analagous across many countries, not just in the West.
Why is this going-solo trend so popular? In the book, Klinenberg writes, "Both the wealth generated by economic development and the social security provided by modern welfare states have enabled the spike...Living alone helps us pursue sacred modern values – individual freedom, personal control, and self-realization – whose significance endures from adolescence to our final days."
NYU sociology professor Eric Klinenberg says nope, that's not true at all. His new book Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprisingly Appeal of Living Alone documents one of the most seismic demographic shifts since the baby boom: in 1950, only 4 million Americans lived alone. Today, around 32 million Americans live alone, and that figure is analagous across many countries, not just in the West.
Why is this going-solo trend so popular? In the book, Klinenberg writes, "Both the wealth generated by economic development and the social security provided by modern welfare states have enabled the spike...Living alone helps us pursue sacred modern values – individual freedom, personal control, and self-realization – whose significance endures from adolescence to our final days."
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/319353#ixzz1m18Ea5QV
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