The stereotype is for women to have the life goal of marrying their partners. Society expects them to feel desolate when they don’t get married by the time they reach their early 30s. You see it all the time in family reunions. Family members keep asking your 30-year-old cousin when she’s getting married (even if she doesn’t even have someone to marry). It’s the same thing with older women. Their children expect them to want to stay with them or with a caregiver at least.
Studies find that marrying—or having a partner—decreases one’s overall health. Single people are actually happier and healthier and if they do need to get married, men are often the ones who need it more than women do. The statistics will prove this to you. Younger men tend to live longer alone because they marry later in their lives. Women tend to marry younger, so they live with their partners for most of their lives.
Later in their years, this trend will flip. Older women will live longer and independently while men die earlier than their wives or if they are divorced or widowed, tend to marry again so they have someone by their sides. As these two genders grow older, women tend to want to live by themselves. They even want to be in a hospice care facility than live with their children and depend on them.
Older Women Want to Spend Time Alone
It is interesting to note that when surveyed, women said they want to spend time alone. Experts said it’s because women have less time by themselves when they were young. They take care of the household and their children. They were never truly by themselves or living independently. When asked if they relish living alone these days, most women answered in the affirmative while men are uncomfortable with the thought of going home to an empty house.
Older Women Are Better at Friendships
Women who live alone when they are old do better at maintaining friendships. Around 71% of women said they are more satisfied with their friendships than 48% of men. This helps older women not feel isolated. Being friends with neighbors and keeping long-distance friendships allow women to enjoy their time living alone. At the same time, they know they can reach out to a friend if they need companionship.
Interestingly, women who are married said they also prefer living alone so they can meet up with their friends. Most of them had to worry about their partners when they decide to socialize. The only way for them to be free to meet their friends is not to live with their partners anymore.
Older Women Spend Time on Their Interests and Hobbies
Throughout the years, it is older women who hone their skills and spend time on their hobbies. Why should it matter to them if they are living alone if they have their interests to keep them happy? Of those living alone, a greater number of women said they pursue their interests and hobbies. In fact, they will more likely pursue their interests and hobbies when they live alone than when they live with their partners.
Older women seem to have a grasp of what makes them happy—and that is to be able to live their lives the way they choose to. In such a patriarchal society, older women are realizing that freedom is a valuable commodity for them. It’s something that has been elusive for much of their years when they were busy taking care of their families. Now that they are older, they treasure it much more than anything they achieved in their younger year.
