Over 50% of young women in UK are single

London: Fewer than half of young women now share their lives with a man, researchers said on Friday.

Some, like movie singleton Bridget Jones, live alone while others are forced by the high cost of housing to remain with their parents.

A study shows that just over half of all women aged between 18 and 34 — 50.8 per cent — do not live with a partner.

The single majority reflects a big increase in the numbers who either by choice or necessity live with their parents, who have put their career before relationships, or have become lone mothers.

Less than 30 years ago well over half the women in the same age group were married, and around two thirds were living full-time with either a husband or boyfriend.

EU survey

The figures were compiled by the European Union's Eurostat statistics arm from figures collected from across EU countries by Brussels.

They also showed more than six out of ten men in the same age group are on their own — although men have always married or taken live-in partners at an older age than women.

In Britain the rise of singledom is partly a product of university or higher education for greater numbers of girls, together with far more opportunities for well-paid careers for young women.

However, the high cost of housing is also persuading many to stay at home with their parents. It may also be that well-educated and well-paid young women are far more choosy about the qualities of the men they may pick as partners. Among less well-off young women, the ‘couple penalty' built into the benefits system discourages the forming of partnerships.

Single mothers can lose as much as £200 (Dh734) a week in benefits and tax credits if they live with their child's father or another man, and British official statistics have shown there are 1.2million couples who keep separate homes and regard themselves as ‘living apart together'.

Researcher and author on family life Patricia Morgan said: "We are always told the single life is exciting, but these figures hide a lot of dissatisfaction and a lot of heartbreak. The number of women who want to be married and to have a family is very high."