With many Millennials staying single through their 20s, a new life stage is being created where products and services for solo living can thrive. Our recently released trend report, Extended Singledom, dives into this new path of adulthood…
Headlines have been shouting for some time that Millennials are killing marriage–but YPulse’s continuous research on young consumers shows that they do want to be married eventually. According to YPulse’s relationships and dating survey, most 13-36-year-olds disagree with the statement, “I’m just looking for a good time and not interested in settling down,” and according to more recently released YPulse data, more than three in five Gen Z and Millennials say being married is part of their ideal life. So, what we’ve found (and have said before) is that Millennials aren’t rejecting marriage; they’re just in no rush to tie the knot. Millennials are less likely to be married in their 20s and 30s than any previous generation. According to Pew data, 30% of 25-34-year-olds in 1980 had never been married, compared to 54% in 2017. But their delay of this life milestone is creating a completely new life stage among the generation. They’re not only pushing back marriage, they’re staying single longer, with two in five 25-34-year-olds telling us they’re not in a relationship.
Our recently released Extended Singledom report—an in-depth look at this emerging older single status—found that young people still dream of finding “the one,” and because of that, they aren’t willing to settle for any less: 84% of single males and 94% of single females say they would rather be single for the rest of their lives than marry someone they don’t love. They also aren’t feeling the pressure to couple up: 82% of single males and 90% of single females say there is no “right age” to find a partner, and 71% of single males and 76% of single females say their happiness is not tied to finding a romantic partner. These high standards, and relatively minimal pressure to couple up, are fueling an extended period of solo living—and single females are especially embracing their solo status. In fact, single women are much more likely than single males to cite personal improvement as a reason they are currently not in a relationship.
New products and services are emerging for single Millennials who have more discretionary income to spend on themselves and want brands to celebrate their independence instead of stigmatizing their singledom. Download the Extended Singledom trend report for more insight into this new path of adulthood and how brands can market to this demographic, and check out a preview of the report below:
