The shelf · Britain
Does The Unexpected Joy of Being Single hold up?
The Unexpected Joy of Being Single, by Catherine Gray (2018)
A memoir of a year away from dating, mixed with research on single life.
The short answer
Yes. Its headline figure holds on the official measures.
The claims, checked
Over a third of people are now single.
Holds Never married: 36.8% of people aged 16 and over in England and Wales in 2024. Not living in a couple: about 39.5%.
Evidence: Office for National Statistics, 2024