The marriage rate has been decreasing for decades, and more people than ever before are living solo: nearly 40% of adults in the U.S. are unpartnered, up from 29% in 1990, according to the Pew Research Center. About half aren't interested in dating or a relationship.
Evidence suggests that people in romantic relationships tend to be happier and have greater life satisfaction than singles, but-as with all relationships-it's complicated. Research has found, for instance, that people in unhappy marriages have equal or worse health outcomes compared with those who were never married. Another important caveat: the singles who have the hardest time with their relationship status tend to be divorced people. Widowhood is also associated with worse mental health.
Researchers are only beginning to understand how singlehood affects health and happiness, and the solo life comes with surprising perks, says Bella DePaulo, a (happily single) social psychologist. "Once I realized that single was who I really was, and that was never going to change, it was wonderful," she says.
This story is from the March 13 - 20, 2023 (Double Issue) edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 13 - 20, 2023 (Double Issue) edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
William McRaven The retired admiral who took down Osama bin Laden on why U.S. leadership matters, the AI race, and what he's going to do with $50 million
You recently received the Bezos Courage and Civility Award, with $50 million to give to charities of your choice. How are you planning to use it? Almost all of this is going to be focused on veterans and their families the children who've lost fathers and mothers in combat. And the other area is mental health for servicemen. What don't the VA and the military health care system cover?
The real Carmichael show
JERROD CARMICHAEL HAD BEEN a famous comedian for almost a decade when he dropped his average-dude persona and started being real. In his 2022 special, Rothaniel, he came out as gay, speaking with rueful humor about internalized homophobia and his fractured relationship with his devoutly Christian mother. It was a creative turning point as well as a personal one.
A jumbled parable with a glowing core
EVEN WHEN A MOVIE IS FAR FROM PERFECT, YOU CAN tell when a director has poured his soul into it. Dev Patel's directorial debut Monkey Man-he's also the movie's star-is trying too hard, and for too much. It wants to be a political allegory, a somber study of a man haunted by childhood trauma, a clarion blast of inspiration for downtrodden humans seeking to summon strength, and last but hardly least, a brutally exhilarating action entertainment.
The pacifist gospel of Civil War
OUTSIDE OF ATLANTA, A CREAKY WHITE VAN WEAVED down a highway lined with abandoned cars. A helicopter sat in the parking lot of a charred JCPenney. Armed guards in military fatigues patrolled checkpoints. A death squad dumped corpses into a mass grave. Artillery boomed in the offing.
THE FOG OF WAR
A TV adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer challenges long-held beliefs about the Vietnam War
TIME Earth AWARDS 2024
From the fashion runway to the rainforest, this year's honorees are using their influence to demonstrate leadership in shaping a more sustainable future.
DESERT POWER
The United Arab Emirates-using oil wealth and its citizens' data-is betting on AI to project influence beyond its borders
Operation Save Biden
The President's campaign is in trouble. Will the turnaround plan work?
America: Start here
IF THERE'S ONE THING YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ME, it's that I'm utterly unsuited for bureaucracy. I don't know my passwords to anything. I have thousands and thousands of unread emails. I don't open mail because I assume it'll be bad news. I've never had a credit card. But it's also something that, as a filmmaker and a writer, deeply fascinates me-how sterile, faceless, and universally isolating it all can be.
Bolsonaro and Trump, apart yet together
A PRESIDENT FACING A TOUGH fight for re-election warns his followers that corrupt elites want to steal power from them. He loses the election and calls on his supporters to defend him. Unable to block the transfer of power, he retreats to Florida.
