Rise of the single-person household
SINGLES by Karenina Yaptinchay
Manila Standard, P. 24B, 22 February 2001

When singles move into the neighborhood, say geographers, latte bars, gyms, and restaurants are sure to follow, and local music, theater, and art galleries thrive — 'The New Singles,' Carla Power

While flat-sitting my single friend's flat along 46^th Street in Manhattan, I was surprised at how unbearably small his kitchen was. I swear only one body could fit into the damn thing. If one person cooks, no one else can do the dishes nor rummage through the refrigerator, quite the opposite of the spacious kitchen in my cousin's house somewhere in suburban North Jersey where I lived.

My friend lived in a bachelor's pad. Not only was the kitchen small, it was also hardly used. He told me that was because he usually ate out to save him time and the trouble of cooking just for one person, if he knew how to cook at all. Eating out or bringing home a cooked meal seemed to be the most logical thing to do.

Now that I am single and living alone, I realize he was right. It only took me a couple of days to realize that I was always too tired to cook and clean up my mess afterwards. It could be a little more expensive to eat out all the time, but, hey, if you are single, you have no one to spend your money on but yourself.

Take for instance my single male friend in Manhattan. I cannot imagine how much money he spent on laundry, take-out food, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, movie houses, the theater, gym, and golf. He never did his own laundry because the laundry place was just around the corner and there was no place in his flat for a washer and dryer. He doesn't cook so he ate out with friends or took out food on his way home from work. He would hang out in bars when he wanted to drink or just buy a six pack at the grocery store so he can enjoy his beer quietly at home. He read the paper in coffee shops, caught a good movie once in a while, took his visiting friends to the theater, went to the gym, and played golf on weekends.

My single female friend who also lives alone in Manhattan does pretty much the same stuff, except for golf. In addition, she pampers herself with pedicures and foot massages, shopping, and by paying her hairdresser regular visits.

When you really think about it, there is much opportunity here, not just for single people to survive and enjoy single life but also for businesses and marketers. In a recent report, according to a magazine article I read a few months back, University of Kent professor of organizational behavior Richard Scase says that "today's companies should think of high-earning single as a key market." As I mentioned in a previous article "shop while you're single," Scase also claims that the new "single market is a marketing man's dream: a demographic with the anxieties of teen-agers and the bank accounts of the middle-aged." Thus, capitalism takes over. But for the single person, who benefits from all the goods and services being offered, life becomes easier albeit more expensive.

Although Scase was talking about London in his report, the phenomenon is obvious in most urban places. In Manhattan, for instance, everything you need is within a five-block radius from where you live. When you find your own place in an urban area, you realize that you can survive as a single person on your own with all the stores, shops, and services available within an arm's length.

I wish the same were true here in the city where I live. Oftentimes, I have to slap myself to remind me that this place is still a third world country and that I should snap out of the illusion that I would have the same benefits as those single people I know who live in highly-urbanized areas in the first world.

But it's not that bad, really. I have survived a year on my own even if water supply is sometimes scarce and even if I have to drive a couple of kilometers to get to the most decent coffee shop to meet up with my friends. I continue to live on my own even if I have to drive to get to the nearest grocery store, where I spend much time waiting for a decent parking space in which I have to haggle with big families who just have to do their grocery shopping together. Don't get me wrong. I find it heartwarming to see families in the Philippines do things together. I am just stating the fact that it is darn hard to move when there are a lot of people in places where parking and floor area are so limited.

Although we may be a little behind in single lifestyle in the Philippines, Scase notes the increase in the number of "single-person households" in the recent years in Britain, predicting that they will outnumber families and couples within the next decade.

It is common for single people in more developed countries move out almost automatically when they are of legal age and business owners tend to make money out of it, creating a new economic, anthropologic, and geographic case to study. The evolving human behavior seems to encourage entrepreneurship.

Carla Power, author of my favorite Newsweek article "The New Singles," observes that single-person households promote gentrification. "When single move into the neighborhood, say geographers, latte bars, gyms, and restaurants are sure to follow, and local music, theater and art galleries thrive." These places, she adds, become the home extension or living room of the single person, especially of single women who tend to form "neofamilies" when they choose to live near their other single friends.

I don't really know for sure if singles in the Philippines will follow the global trend, given the family culture we all grew up in. But I believe things will change.

We are beginning to see a lot of places where single people can hang out. Coffee shops are sprouting like mushrooms everywhere. Launderettes are available in every corner. Gyms are already made available. Of course, these places are not exclusively for singles but they definitely fit the single person's fast-paced life and fat paycheck. Because it makes good business, maybe it will encourage more and more singles to be on their own.

Despite the "I-will-live-with-my-parents-until-I-marry" mentality, I believe many single people will realize the little pleasures and the ease of living on their own sooner or later. It may take a lot of getting used to but it is actually possible for single people to survive and enjoy living alone, especially for those who can afford it. I understand that some single people find it difficult to move out for economic reasons but I do not understand why some single people, who are too old to be called minors and already make a decent living, continue to enjoy their dependence. I guess they do have their reasons, some good ones I hope. Of course, some of them too are discouraged to move out by their parents. I could understand why.

Recently, I found a good enough deal for me to invest in real estate property. Some two years ago, it never occurred to me to buy property because a) I was comfortable living with my parents until I die and b) I will find a husband who, I assume, would have acquired property. But things changed. Although I was comfortable living with my parents, I wanted to be independent. And although I am still hoping to find a husband with property, I have accepted the reality that there is a possibility that I may not. Owning my own property could not possibly hurt and by doing so, I have just added another item to my long list of where I, a single person, spend my money on. Who knows? I may have to run a "single-person household" for the rest of my life.

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