You are single on Valentine’s Day – you are not alone!
World-wide, the single person household is growing rapidly in line with economic development and education. The more developed and educated, the higher the proportion of single person households…it is predicted that the lone person household will rise most of all households over the next 25 years and more than half of these households are females. And the reason is simply that people want to live an individualistic lifestyle when they can afford it.
The economics of Valentine’s Day
Single households consume more than multi-person households, particularly on grooming and entertainment and maybe the increased push for Valentine’s Day dates, gifts and all the trimmings has something to do with clever marketers aiming at this ever increasing demographic. So we are appealing to you, yes you: the cashed up single. Don’t be preoccupied with dating on Valentine’s Day. Don’t feel compelled to spend up big. Instead, appreciate your ‘singleness’! Most of you are single by choice and wouldn’t want it any other way – or are you?
Don’t stress and enjoy the benefits!
Whether you yearn for a date or are happy that you don’t have to take part any coordinated effort to come up with something to affirm your love, stop, relax and take care of yourself instead…here’s how:
- Organise a dinner date with your other single friends
- Had a tough day at work? Have that massage you’ve been dreaming about.
- Relax, you can do it. Do nothing, veg out, run a bath, sideswipe the ROMCOMs and watch a gritty thriller!
- Beat the blues with kindness: offer to babysit for those with children who rarely get out so they can have a date-night!
- Whatever you do, don’t get drunk – research indicates that it will feel good at first but most likely make you feel worse in the end 🙁
Mass media advertising and a consumer society are pretty good at pulling on our heart and purse strings – making couples feel like they will be in hot water if they don’t rush out and buy a dozen red roses or, for singles seeming to validate the view that being single is not by choice and therefore not ok…but rationally we know that’s not true!
However, if being single does bother you and you’d rather you weren’t – perhaps remember a few of these: Love Letter to Myself.
Interesting articles for further reading:
Our major cities are tipped to become a lot more crowded, particularly with people living alone – with lone person households expected to have the most rapid increase of all household types in the next 25 years— up by 65 per cent on current numbers, the expectation then will be for an increase in pressure on housing also – particularly affordable housing.
Single Awareness Day – A day where it’s ok to stand up and proudly say ‘It’s ok to be single’, mark it off in your calendar as Feb 15th and start planning your activities 🙂
Growth of Single Households and Changes in Consumption – Figures here indicated that single households spent 1.3 times more than two person households in Korea.
Singles Awareness Day: 20 Anti-Valentine’s Day Quotes for Singles – “Being single is pretty good. It’s a nice sense of irresponsibility.” – Michael Douglas
Image credits: Bansky’s Bandaged Heart, which was spray-painted on the side of a Brooklyn warehouse, was removed by a team of specialists shortly after it was completed during Banksy’s self-proclaimed New York City residency in the fall, said Stephan Keszler, the owner of Keszler Gallery in Manhattan and Southampton who purchased the work. You can read more about it here.