Rural and Urban Solo Living: Social integration, Quality of Life and Future Orientations.
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Sch of Social and Political Science
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
Publications
Jamieson L
(2013)
Living Alone: Globalization, Identity and Belonging
Jamieson L
(2010)
Fertility and Social Change: The Neglected Contribution of Men's Approaches to Becoming Partners and Parents
in The Sociological Review
Jamieson L
(2017)
Solo-Living, Demographic and Family Change: The Need to know more about men
in Sociological Research Online
Jamieson, L
(2020)
Couple Relationships in a Global Context
| Description | The study provides new and significant insight into the meaning and experience of living alone across the diverse characteristics and circumstances of the working-age population who are living alone. The study strategically focused on those ages 25-44 in order to understand why people are living alone at ages more conventionally associated with being partnered and parenting. The possibilies of documenting the full range of experiences were maximised by the combination of a representative household study as the sampling frame and a larger than typical sample size for a qualitative study. The oversampling of women to create a sample with equal numbers of men and women enabled a full comparison of the experiences of men and women living alone. The oversampling of people living alone in remote and rural areas enabled comparison of their experiences with those living in city contexts. We have documented the different routes by which people have come to live alone and the differences made to their life satisfaction by the different social, economic and cultural resources they can access. The diversity of route into, out of and experiences of living alone defy the two common stereotypes of 'swinning single' and 'sad and lonely'. One of the outcomes of our research is to combat these stereotypes. While most people living alone inhabit rich social worlds with caring ties to family, friends and, sometimes, various forms of community, the small minority who are socially isolated and lonely were predominantly economically disadvantaged men who were also in poor physical and/or mental health. An important overarching message is that the growth in living alone in this age group does not herald a turning away from family or caring relationships to others. Neverhtless, it is the case that the associated delay in partnering and parenting may increase unintended childlessness but it may also enhance the capacity to live alone with contentment in later life. Our findings also document the challenges of living alone that practioners seeking to assist young adults transitioning to lving alone should be mindful of particularly when people lack normal networks of social support, such as young adults leaving care or when support networks have been disrupted by family conflict, bereavement or drug and alcohol abuse. Many research participants find aspects of living alone challenging including cooking for one, eating alone and going on holiday alone, unless to visit friends and family. Difficulty in enjoying cooking and eating alone can work against a healthy diet and portion control. In terms of the housing implications of living alone, transitions in and out of living alone are often associated with partnering and unpartnering and are fairly common across the life course. The majority of research participants did not see living alone as their long-term future but, rather, anticipated living with a partner. This including those who had exited from previous co-resident partnerships and the never partnered. However, it was also widely believed that a long time living alone makes the adjustment to living with others difficult. For those who were owner-occupiers or had a secure social housing tenancies, having already established a household was acknowledged as a complicating factor in negotiating any future co-residence with a partner who also has such a household. Availability of affordable rented accommodation that could be relinquished without the fear that this type of accommodation might never become available again would reduce the risks of cohabitation for some in this group. People living alone in social housing have often spent many years on housing waiting lists living with parents well beyond the age of exit that they regard as desirable. Those who had experienced homeless or were part of the hidden homeless had family circumstances which meant they did not have this option. Those who already have children living elsewhere typically wished to maintain close relationships with their children and were wary of the potential impact on children of entering a co-resident arrangement with a new partner. This is a situation more often faced by fathers than mothers since when parenting couples part, children more usually remain with their mother. Fathers living alone seeking to sustain their parenting faced particular difficulties in creating a home for home for children if their own housing was cramped and their income low but part-time parenting is not typically taken into account in social housing allocation. The gender comparison and urban-rural comparison built into the research design enabled us to document how gender and sexuality interact in perceptions of the costs and benefits of being known and recognised in rural areas versus the possibilities of anonymity in urban areas. Experiencing rural areas as places of surveillance rather than social support was reported particularly by gay men but heterosexual women were also acutely aware and sometimes inhibited by how their sexual history became public knowledge. Finding suitable partners is a particular challenge in rural areas as there are typically mismatches of education and social class between available men and women. Many of our findings are relevant to housing policy. Although a higher proportion of people living alone occupy one-bedroom housing than people living with others, a significant proportion, nevertheless, have a spare bedroom; we have documented the importance of the spare room for links with family and friends. A significant reason for the surplus of men over women living alone in the 25-44 age group is that the children of separated couples typically live with their mother. Men seeking to maintain close relationships with non-resident children use their spare room to make an alternative home for their children and the absence of any spare room makes hosting children much more difficult. The so-called bedroom tax makes no allowance for such circumstances. We were able to comment on this policy in verbal presentations and in an article for Discover Society We were able to provide some nuance to the debale suggesting the trend towards living alone invetiably will mean increased carbon footprints by exploring some aspects of the alleged higher carbon footprint of people living alone versus people living with others. In urban areas, working age adults living alone are less likely to have access to a household car than those living with others; some are environmentally conscious users of public transport. Consumption practices are very varied, in line with diversity in socio-economic circumstances, but the challenges of shopping and cooking for one is exacerbated by the practices of supermarkets which make buying small amounts more expensive and make high-carbon processed food cheaper as well as easier than cooking from scratch. We were also able to provide evidence of relevance to health and welfare, by providing additional insight into the experiences of a minority of multiply disadvantaged men in poor physical, mental and economic health who were also the most likely to be socially isolated, particularly in urban areas and the least able to call on kith or kin for help now or in the future. |
| Exploitation Route | Findings can be used to counter stereotypes and myths about people who live on their own as either all 'sad and lonely' or 'single swingers' over-preoccupied with their own pleasure to the detriment to commitments to others. Proactive media work at the time of the publishing of the book Living Alone and subsequent responses to journalists contibutes in this direction. A number of sectors could draw on the documented experiences of those living alone to plan and design for the growing number of people living alone of all age and briefings have been used to heighten awareness of the findings. For example, findings are of some relevance to housing specialists who might plan one-person housing that helps people to live alone comfortably without high carbon footprints; food providers who can deliver food portions to enable people living alone to cook from scratch without waste and to eat well, healthily and with pleasure alone; providers of commercial dining facilities who can make eating out alone more pleasurable; providers of public transport who can avoid stereotyping lone travellers in marketing and create positive images of using public transport alone. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Construction,Environment |
| Description | Our findings have supported mindfulness across policy makers and practitiones in government and the third sector of people, more men than women, living alone at ages conventionally associated with being partnered and parenting and our have encouaged dialogue among those who are shaping relevant service - particularly housing but also welfare, social care, health, transport, environment, leisure. We have shown how people living alone experience the challenges and pleasures of living alone but have documented differences by socio-economic circumstances, urban and rural area, gender and sexual orientation of interest to local authorities, government and third sector. We can show how the lack of affordable rented accommodation is relevant not only to homelessness and hidden homelessness but a heightened sense of risks assciated with a move to a co-resident partnership even when that is what people want, resulting in delay and further postponement of having children adding to unintended infertility. We have provided greater insight into the small group, predominantly working-class men with long term health issues, who are particularly vulnerable and socially isolated. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2008 |
| Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice,Other |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | facilitation of discussion of living alone across government and third sector in Scotland |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Title | Solo Living Data added to the UK Data Archive |
| Description | 'Solo Living Telephone Interviews': 140 files, individual interview transcripts 'Solo Living In depth Interviews': 35 files, individual interview transcripts Documentation: Online questionnaire, Bristol Online Survey. Telephone Interview Guidelines In Depth Interviews Topic Guide' list of pseudonyms/codes, with age, sex and locality type |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2010 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | I have not yet identified additional projects using this data but I believe it will become more valuable and not less with time as it becomes history. |
| URL | https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=6835 |
| Description | 'Challenging family and household boundaries: Challenges for social policy arising from the growth in solo living amongst working-age adults' Wasoff presentation to Social Policy Association annual conference 2008 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A presentation on behalf of the research team to the audience of attendees at the Social Policy Association annual conference bringing out the social policy issues associated with living alone (housing, welfare, health, social care, environmental but also to a lesser extent transport and leisure) and presenting the relevant research findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
| Description | 'Home Alone: The housing experience of living solo and its implications for the housing system' Wasoff, Housing Studies Association Annual Conference, University of York, 14 to 16 April 2010 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Professor Wasoff presented the implications of our work on living alone on behalf of the project to housing scholars and professionals who attend the Housing Studies Association Annual Conference. As well as ensuring the audience were briefed on the trend of living alone, age and gender composition theoreof, the issues discussed include the proportion of those living alone who are non-resident parents or in living apart together relationships, hospitality patterns and use of spare room or desire for spare room, carbon footprints of people living alone and implications for future housing need. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | 'Living alone: A Gender Issue; A rural and urban issue?' Jamieson presentation to Centre for Social Change, University of South Australia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A presentation of the research focused on the findings of particular relevance across national contexts and particular dealing with issues of relevance in South Australia. The audience were primarily academics with an interest in families, housing, social policy and social care but there were a small number of people with professional practice and policy backgrounds. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | 'The Implications of Living Alone for Couple Relationships' Colloquium on Couple Relationships in the 21st Century (Malta: National Centre for Family Research, President's Foundation and co-hosted by the International Commission on Couple and Family Relations |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to give a presentation based on my work on living alone although this was a Colloquium on Couple Relationships in the 21st Century because the organisers knew through my presentations and published work and that I could speak to the topic of ''The Implications of Living Alone for Couple Relationships'. The colloquium was attended by the President of Malta and the host organisation, National Centre for Family Research (www.pfws.org.mt/en/family-research-entities) sits within the President's Foundation (www.pfws.org.mt). It was attended by a spectrum of practioners, policy maker, politicians and charitable foundations from within Malta as well as an international academic audience. It was co-hosted by the International Commission on Couple and Family Relations (www.ICCFR.org). An edited collection that includes this contribution is being published this year. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | 'Urban and rural solo living, demographic change and intimacy' Jamieson, Simpson, Wasoff bespoke workshop for colleagues in UHI and their policy-practice network |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A bespoke seminar in Inverness bringing out rural and urban comparisons that are a key element of the research design for audiences brought together by the University of Highlands and Islands and CRFR. UHI has its own network of connections between policy makers, practitoners and academics in Highland Region, the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland and is an associated institution of the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
| Description | CRFR international conference presentation 'Solo living and social networks and transitions' Wasoff Jamieson |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Data collection were not complete and this presentation was off analysis of Scottish Household Survey, British Household Panel Survey, and European Social Surveys to summarise trends for an international audience to stimulate their interest and encourage more international research. Key points included Diversity and scale of one person households, both in Britain and in Europe Particular growth in households of one person households of working age Stocks/flows-transitions commonplace, especially for working age men Solo living and social capital: differences exist but are small. Solos are firmly embedded in family and friendship networks, little evidence of more social exclusion than for others. Women more firmly connected to these networks than men, especially if over working age, but men too have high levels of contact with their social networks Friendship networks seem to be stronger for solos than others. Limited support for both positive and negative interpretations, though not for the more stereotypical or extreme versions of these. Important questions about care, support, risk pooling within households Suggested research agendas-especially for qualitative studies |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2007 |
| Description | Conference presentation BHPS annual confernce 'Men's Orientations to Partnering, Having Children and Parenting' Lynn Jamieson, Kathryn Backett Milburn, Roona Simpson, Fran Wasoff |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This presentation brought together evidence from the solo living project and a module on fertility in the Scottish Social Attitude survey to combine qualitative and quantiative evidence about men's thinking about partnering and parenting. It was presented at a conference of experts with an interest in demographic change and used to working with complex quantiative data but not all of whom are used to drawing on insights from qualitative research on living alone. It was demonstrating the methodological and substantive added value of reseach like the solo living research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
| Description | End of research workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The final report of the project was presented to an audience primarily of academics but also the local and Scottish government policy maker and thrid sector attendees from the interim event in 2008 were invited and a number attended. The research was featured on the university website at the time, press releases resulted in media coverage and it was subsequently featured on radio 4's Thinking Aloud programme and on Radio Scotland. The majority of workshop participants were from the UK but academics from the USA and Europe with relevant research interests were present. A solo living network was established to keep people in touch after this event and hosted on the CRFR website. In 2020 this is being transferred into a jisc email network. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | European solo living trends |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Chart showing percentage of one person households, contributed to 'family facts and findings' section of European Society on Family Relations newsletter by Roona Simpson on behalf of the project by way of encouraging members of the society to pay attention to this trend as an important issue and to raise awareness of the general research topic and our own work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| URL | https://www.esfr.org/publications/newsletters/item/2009-autumn |
| Description | Present to 2007 European Sociological Association 'Urban and Rural Solo Living, Democratic Change and Intimacy', Jamieson, Wasoff, Simpson |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of the research to an international audience of academics at the 8th European Sociological Association Conference being held in Glasgow. The data analysis were not yet completed but it was possible to present the logic of the research design, provide some interim findings and seek feedback. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2007 |
| Description | Presentation 'Solo-Living: Trends in Living Alone Amongst Adults of Working Age' to UNDERSTANDING EUROPEAN LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: PERSPECTIVES FROM ANTHROPOLOGICAL DEMOGRAPHY, Simpson and Wasoff, LSE 2008 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was an opportunity to present the reseach findings to a different academic audience of demographers, an international audience of anthropolgical demographers who attend this annual conference. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Presentation to the European Sociological Association Sociology of Family Research Network Interim Meeting,Helsinki 'Solo Living in Early Adulthood: Challenging Family and Household Boundaries', Jamieson, Simpson, Wasoff |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to an international audience of academics who study families, personal relationships and intimacy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
| Description | Research Briefing 'Living on your own: Social integration,quality of life and aspirations for the future' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The briefing series has a list of subscribers who are a mix of policy makers and practitioners from across statutory and voluntary sectors as well as a range of academic researchers from postgraduate to very senior. The balance between non-academics and academics is in favour of the former. This briefing was also sent out in print form to our research participants and sent electronically to academics on our solo-living research network. It is available for download by the public. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| URL | https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/3417/rb%2047.pdf;jsessionid=ABB71BBFE6A37D51504DAD849F319... |
| Description | Seminar for Stakeholders |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A report of findings was presented by the research team to an audience primarily of local and Scottish government officials and third sector organisations with an interest in the increasing numbers of people living alone, routes into and out of living alone, and the implications for planning housing and other services. Dialogue was ensured by prior circulation of materials and inviting specific participants to open dialogue by replying to the findings from their own prespective as discussants. The participants included the strategy officer of Edinburgh City Council, Senior Planning Analyst from Glasgow City Council, Research Analyst from North Ayrshire Council, four members of Scottish Government (Policy Analysts, Economist, Librarian, Head of Scottish Government Social Research Team) Head of Demography at GROS, a Statistician from the General Registry for Scotland, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the Chartered Institute for Housing in Scotland, Chief Executive of Scottish Churches Housing Action and Director of Scottish Council for Single Homeless. In addition a small number of academics and a representative of PCS union were also participants. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
| Description | Single living |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Thinking Allowed, Radio 4, programme description: The number of people living in single person households has doubled since 1971. Why are more people living alone and what are the consequences for the environment and the economy? How do ideas in the popular press of the single lifestlye really match reality? Laurie Taylor talks to Lynn Jamieson, Professor of Sociology at the University of Edinburgh, and to Jan MacVarish from the University of Kent about one of the biggest demographic shifts since World War Two. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00p67tq |
| Description | conference presentation British Sociological Association 2008 'Solo Living in Early Adulthood: Social Integration, Quality of Life and Future Orientations' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of the research at the main sociology conference in Britain to an audience of peers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |