The Future of Living Alone

Abstract

The number of people living alone is likely to continue to increase globally, both among the elderly and the working-age population, although it remains much more unthinkable and practically impossible in some regions of the world. In some parts of Europe and the United States, recession may cause pause and reversal, but, in general, where the trend has more recently started, it is more likely to continue towards higher levels, albeit not necessarily achieving the current levels in northern Europe. Gradations in the levels of living alone will continue more or less mapping onto the family-sex-gender systems outlined by Göran Therborn. It will remain very low for working-age adults in regions where family-sex-gender systems are more securely patriarchal, exercising tighter control over women and young people. It has long been anticipated that the growing opportunities for waged work of global capitalism and the more rapid global flows of discourse, including the celebration of gender equality and intimacy, will weaken patriarchal arrangements. However, such predictions have often underestimated their resilience. There are still many contexts in which young people have limited or no access to a period of independence beyond parental control and prior to marriage.