From left behind to leading life: The rise of intentional singlehood

As dating apps fatigued users and relationship timelines felt increasingly unrealistic, staying single started to feel less like a compromise and more like clarity.

In India, being single past a certain age was often treated like a gap that needed closure. But as voices and stories revealed this year, that script has been rewritten. 

According to one of our columnists, “A 2019 Morgan Stanley report predicted that by 2030, 45 per cent of women in the United States of America, aged 25-44 will be single and kid-free, up from 41 per cent in 2018. India-specific data is harder to pin down, but the 2011 Census already showed over 10 million single-person households, a number swelling as urbanisation and education reshape our choices.”

The piece also captured this shift with striking clarity: many singles now define themselves not by what they are not (a partner, a spouse) but by what they are — autonomous, fulfilled, and thriving.

One interviewee, Svetlana, explains how confidence and priorities sharpen with age: “With age comes confidence and wisdom. Your priorities become clearer.”

Where earlier generations often equated adulthood with marriage and family established by a legal or social ceremony, 2025 saw increasing acceptance of singlehood as a valid life choice. 

Many singles choose deliberately to wait, prioritise self-knowledge, emotional resilience, career goals, or simply joyful independence over rushing into wedlock. 

One of the year’s most resonant stories came from actor Sanjeeda Shaikh, who openly questioned the utility of social labels like ‘single mother.’ Shaikh said motherhood transcends marital status, asserting that being called a single mother isn’t what defines her role, being a mother does. 

Her stance directly challenged the stereotype that single parents are somehow incomplete or disadvantaged, reframing parenting and identity on individual terms rather than social expectations.

Gurleen Baruah, existential psychotherapist at That Culture Thing, said, “Societal labels like ‘single parent’ often carry a perception of something being incomplete, as if a vital piece of the family puzzle is missing.

Another trend that echoed across India in 2025 was the growing appetite for relationship models that don’t rely on traditional marital structures. While not always discussed under the overt banner of singlehood, we explored alternatives like living apart together (LAT).

Couples choose emotional commitment without conventional cohabitation, highlighting that intimacy and fulfilment can take many forms beyond marriage labels. 

Senior clinical psychologist Neha Parashar from Cadabams Hospitals, said, “Research from The Journal of Marriage and Family suggests that LAT couples report higher relationship satisfaction due to the intentional effort they put into maintaining emotional intimacy. Communication becomes more deliberate, with couples often relying on scheduled interactions or quality time rather than routine exchanges.”