The Price of Being Single

Today, single households are more common than ever before. By some estimates single people make up more than fifty percent of the United States Population. Even with such a large amount of people without a partner, our society still greatly prefers married couples to an individual. This is not only evident in people's every day attitudes. The laws of the United States as well as policies of individual private corporations clearly illustrate a preference towards married couples.

Wikimedia

There are countless ways that single people are at a disadvantage financially. Single people pay significantly more money on taxes, medical care premiums, insurance premiums, and more. The Atlantic did a research study and found that a single woman earning a salary of $80,000 is likely to spend over $1 million more in her lifetime than a married woman earning the exact same salary. One million dollars is quite the price to pay for not settling down with a partner.

Flickr

This huge figure comes from a variety of different sources. First, a single person pays significantly higher taxes than his/her married counterpart. HR Block has identified ten ways a taxpayer is affected by getting married. Tax brackets (percent income taxed determined by annual salary) are different for single people and married people. So once a person gets married they run the possibility of moving into a lower tax bracket, while making the exact same amount of money. So the percentage of income taken away as taxes is not only determined by how much money one makes (which might make the most intuitive sense) but also one's marital status. Married individuals are also permitted to make two personal tax exemptions, as compared to a single person's one. A married couple thus can file four times more money's worth in tax exemptions than one individual. On top of that, married couples are permitted to give monetary "gifts" tax-free with no limit.

But it doesn't stop with taxes. Single people also miss out on a ton of monetary benefits from social security. A married person not only receives their own social security benefits, but also at least 50% of their spouse's (100% if the spouse's social security benefits exceed their own) benefits as well. And the spouse still gets 100% of their social own social security benefits. So a retired couple will receive far much more money from social security than any individual. Also, when a married person dies, all of their social security benefits are received by that person's family. However, when a single person dies, all of the social security benefits simply disappear. This is worth emphasizing as it is clear that a single person would have another family member in mind (i.e. brother, sister, nieces, nephews, etc...) that could use their social security benefits, but the state does not allow this. The craziest part is that a person does not even need to be currently married to receive extra benefits, but only needs to have been married for longer than ten years.

Flickr

Of course the list does not stop there. Single people have less benefits for IRAs, pay much more for health insurance, other insurances (as insurance companies often give out hefty family discounts), and housing. The exact numbers of these other expenses are outlined very nicely on Psychology Today. So once we add up all of these different cases where singles pay so much more than their equivalent married counterparts, it is easy to see how singles may be out of over a million dollars in their lifetime (as was predicted by The Atlantic). But should simply saying "I do" amount to a million dollars in savings?

Single people are very likely to be financially stressed. US News shows that singles have the lowest income and asset levels, and the lowest homeowner rates of any other household structure. They also found that only 17% were on track to reach their retirement goals. If single people are already very stressed in regards to their financial situation, why should they be "penalized" for not having a life partner? The tax disparities between single and married people are far too great, and are not justified just for saying "I do".

Happily Ever After After All

Marriage is no new concept, but has been held as a much celebrated tradition for countless centuries. Indeed, it may seem like marriage has always been one of society's highest held ideals. And this ideal certainly continues to prevail today. The importance of finding a life-partner is instilled in us at an extremely young age. Just think about nearly every single Disney movie that has ever been produced. Most all of Disney's endings are fairly predictable as they all end the same: the male and female protagonist fall in love and live happily ever after. Even in Wall-E, a movie about a robot that cleans trash on the rotting remains of planet Earth, Wall-E manages to find himself a partner.

Flickr

In addition to being fed the idea that everyone should find a partner by movies, love songs, and a variety of other medias, children also learn to fear being single in their circles. Think about how many times in elementary school children discussed the fear of "dying alone", or made fun of the generic "cat-lady" who lives alone with no one but ten cats to keep her company. All of the media and talk even pushes some children to rush into dating as early as the fifth grade. Both the ideas that marriage is a vital component to a happy life and that married people are the overwhelming majority of the population are drilled into a child's head early in life, and these beliefs tend to carry throughout life.

But what if neither of these idea's are actually true? The number of single people has been steadily on the rise for years, and now actually makes up slightly over 50% of the United States Population, as can be seen in the data collected by The Pew Research Center. It is also interesting to note that an astounding 30% of the population has never been married. Equating to almost one out of three people, it becomes clear that single people are not such a minority after all, but on the contrary, are actually quite common.

It is also a misconception that single people are doomed to a life of unhappiness. While marriage is of course a wonderful thing for a couple that has found love, and does indeed lead to much happiness, the absence of such a marriage may not necessarily mean that a person cannot pursue happiness in other areas (such as a career, social work, primarily family, etc...). While many studies have proven that married individuals are happier than singles at large, it is interesting to investigate how this may not be the case for every individual. Psychology Today did a study and found that people with high avoidance goals (desires to avoid conflict at all costs) were equally happy in a relationship or single as they do not respond well to the inevitable conflict paired with relationships. But even with such a high percentage of unmarried people, and the possibility of living an equally happy life as a single, single people face quite a bit of judgement and stigmatization for their marriage status.

Singles are negatively stereotyped and may face a large amount of judgement for their marriage status. Researchers found that women who have never married reported feeling "exposed" in regards to their status, and felt strong pressure to conform to the norm and find a partner (Live Science). When asked about marital status or plans, a single person might feel cornered and begin to believe that there is an inherent problem with his/herself that is preventing them from entering a long-term relationship. There are many stereotypes of single people including that they are undesirable, needy, desperate, and issue-ridden, when really he/she may just not be prepared for, or desire a long-term relationship. Dr. DePaulo has coined a popular term, "Singlism" to describe this sort of stereotyping. This sort of negativity can have a profound effect on a single individual.

Marriage is of course a wonderful, and beautiful thing. However it should not be displayed as the only option; marriage does not always make sense for everyone. Instead, some people can be just as happy independently. While there is still much stereotyping that occurs against single people, it is actually quite common. For many, being single just makes more sense.