The shelf · Living alone and single life
Does Going Solo hold up?
Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone, by Eric Klinenberg (2012)
A sociologist's account of why living alone grew across rich countries after 1950 and how people who live alone actually live.
The short answer
Mostly yes. The trend it describes has continued, so its counts are now low, and one figure for Stockholm mixes up households and people.
The claims, checked
About 32.7 million Americans live alone, roughly 28% of households, up from under 10% in 1950.
Outdated The trend holds, but by 2025 there were 39.7 million one-person households, 29% of the total.
Evidence: US Census Bureau, 2025
About one American adult in seven lives alone.
Holds Still roughly one adult in seven. This share of adults is the right counterpart to the 29% share of households.
Evidence: US Census Bureau, 2025
More than half of Stockholm's households are one-person households.
Holds with conditions Eurostat put one-person households at 52% for Sweden as a whole in 2016. Stockholm's own 2025 figures count people instead: 22.4% of residents live alone. Half of households is not half of people.
Evidence: Eurostat, 2017
People who live alone spend more time with friends and neighbours than married people do.
Holds with conditions A US study (Sarkisian and Gerstel, 2016) found always-single adults had stronger ties on all 40 comparisons. It compares marital status, not living arrangements, and cannot show cause.
Evidence: Sarkisian and Gerstel, 2016