Project 3.3

The rise in singlehood is one of the major demographic trends of the last few decades. The question is how to maintain social cohesion in this context of increasing individualization. This PhD project examines whether and under which circumstances singlehood has integrative or isolating effects for singles aged 20 to 50. It explores what it means to be single, as well as singles’ social relations and well-being. It does so by collecting and examining new qualitative and quantitative data among singles and by using large-scale register data on networks. The focus of the project is on diversity within the singles’ population.

The rise in singlehood is one of the major demographic trends of the last few decades. As the number of singles is increasing, the question is how to maintain social cohesion in this context of increasing individualization. This project examines whether and under which circumstances singlehood has an integrative or isolating function for singles aged 20 to 50. Specifically, the project aims to study 1) what it means to be single; 2) the social relations and solidary/caregiving behaviour of singles; and 3) the extent to which well-being of singles depends on individual and contextual characteristics. Throughout the project, the focus is on diversity within the single population to identify the conditions under which singlehood benefits individuals and their social relations and when it is a risk factor for social isolation. These insights can be used to build more targeted provisions or develop new institutional arrangements to meet the needs and support the social connections of the increasing numbers of singles in contemporary societies. Examples of questions that can be studied are: Are singles happier if they work or live in a context in which singlehood is common? And do singlehood norms especially impact the well-being of women?

The project uses advanced quantitative and qualitative methods, with an emphasis on quantitative methods. New survey data (a LISS module) will be designed and collected to capture the lives of singles. Moreover, POPNET data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) will be used for .  information about the (potential) network an individual is part of, such as their neighbourhood. A third potential quantitative data source is repeated cross-sectional data from the European Social Survey  Survey, used to study change over time. The quantitative data will be studied with advanced quantitative methods, including a multilevel design.  The qualitative component consists of interviews with singles, using approaches from applied phenomenology to conduct conversations to deepen our understanding of key experiential categories related to singlehood.

The first sub-project will use a qualitative phenomenological research design. For this, a philosophical-phenomenologically informed structured interview will be designed among Dutch singles aged 20- to 50 to deepen our understanding of core concepts related to singlehood in the context of participants’ lived experience, with a key focus on loneliness. This approach captures the depth of and processes behind the lived experiences not captured in quantitative research. Building on this qualitative analysis, the rest of the project will use quantitative research to enhance and develop these findings. In sub-project 2, the new survey data will be used to study social relations and solidary behaviour.  Singlehood status is based on a detailed partner variable , relationship history and whether singlehood is voluntary. This will be interacted with other characteristics, such as gender and education. In sub-project 3, the POPNET data will be matched with the LISS-panel data on singlehood norms and life satisfaction.A multilevel design will be used, with individuals clustered in neighbourhoods or regions, workplaces or families, which differ in norms and in the number of singles in the network.