Single and Happy?

With her managerial job and enviable 18th-century cottage, 27-year-old Abigail Gavin has already achieved what many women in their late twenties aspire to.

What Gavin doesn't have is a wedding ring on the third finger of her left hand. She isn't married and a wedding isn't on the cards anytime soon.

But she insists that she revels in her single status, and at the end of a busy day at work loves curling up on the sofa with her cat Matilda.

"Being single means I can spend my money however I like and I can have my home the way I want it," she says. "My home is really girly. I've got loads of cushions and tealights everywhere.

"I don't have to pick up a man's wet towels off the floor, put up with him playing computer games day and night and I don't have to fight for my share of the duvet. "

And Gavin's marital status is far from unusual. In the past 30 years the number of unmarried women in the UK has doubled. New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest she is one of the eight-million-and-growing "freemales" in the UK — women who, on the surface, seem to be more than happy to be single or in co-habiting relationships rather than getting married.

If you press Gavin, who lives in King's Langley, Hertfordshire, she will admit that secretly she would like to settle down, get married and even have children one day.

"My grandparents married at 18 and were together until my grandad died at 85. I would love to have that old-fashioned commitment for life.

"Though I love the freedom of not having a partner, it's the little things you miss when you're single — like having someone around in the evening to talk to about your day".

Research suggests that while a growing number of women are singletons, deep down most would like to be married. A survey of more than 150,000 singles last year found more than 95 per cent wanted marriage, not just a partner.

TV relationship expert and author Kate Taylor says: "Single women have been made to feel really uncomfortable about admitting they want to get married," she says. "They're advised to keep things light and breezy if they want to attract a partner — to come across in quite a masculine way, and give the impression they don't want to be tied down.

"Talking about marriage can be the kiss of death at the beginning of a relationship — it smacks of neediness. So tying the knot tends to be a taboo subject for single women — even if it's what most really want."

With women's pursuit of their careers being cited by the ONS as a reasons for the rise of freemales, Paula Hall, a psychotherapist, says: "Young women feel that if they admit in the workplace that marriage is one of their ambitions they won't be taken seriously — or will be overlooked for promotion," she explains.

While a career is absorbing and fulfilling for many women it also makes it easier to put marriage and children on the back burner — sometimes for far longer than intended.

Catherine D'Arcy, 42, from Middlewich in Cheshire, believes her dedication to her career is one of the reasons why she is single. She has been on her own since she called time on her ten-year marriage in 2003.

"I was a real career woman when I was married. I had a senior position in a food-manufacturing company, which involved lots of overseas travel.

"We had a lovely house in Wiltshire and I did all the cooking, gardening when I was around — but the trouble was, I just wasn't around enough.

"In the end the best decision was to divorce. It was difficult. I felt a failure, and was scared of being alone. So I threw myself into a complete lifestyle and career change."

After her divorce, D'Arcy moved to Spain and then Mexico before eventually setting up an online jewellery business back in the UK.

"For the past seven years I have been travelling all over the world sourcing jewellery," she says.

To outsiders D'Arcy has a life many would covet — besides her glamorous career, she lives in a beautiful farmhouse surrounded by rolling countryside. But, even though she doesn't aspire to have children, she admits the single life can be lonely at times.

"I don't mind coming back to an empty house — I'm usually exhausted and just want some peace and quiet — but I would be lying if I said I don't get lonely," she says.

She adds: "Most of our customers are men and many of them want messages engraved on the jewellery they buy. When a man is asking to have ‘I love you more than ever' engraved on a bracelet to give to his wife for their 25th wedding anniversary, or a soldier is ordering a piece inscribed with a poignant message for his wife, how can I not believe in happy ever after?"

So why, in a society where there are no longer stigmas attached to women being single, does marriage still hold such importance for them?

Taylor says: "Most women will admit that they would love to get married one day. As little girls we all dream of finding someone who will promise to love us forever — not someone to take out a joint mortgage with us.

"There are those who dismiss marriage as just a piece of paper — but a wedding still offers the ultimate, tangible proof of a couple's commitment to each other."