26th August 2011: Why Women Enjoy Being Home Alone

VIRGINIA WOOLF thought every woman writer needed a room of her own. But many women are now opting for an entire home of one's own.

Women are twice as likely as men to live alone for more than a decade, and report greater levels of satisfaction with the solo life than men do, according to a new study from the Australian Institute of Family Studies.

The institute's national study of 4300 Australians challenges the stereotype of the sad loner. Instead, the survey found that seven out of 10 Australians are living alone by choice, and that only 7 per cent cite loneliness as a reason to stop living alone. Two out of five Australians reported at least one stint of living alone in their lives.

"Many spells of living alone are of short duration," said the University of Queensland's Professor David de Vaus, who ran the study. "It's part of our more complex and dynamic life course."

But while many people will give solo living a go (the average stint is 2½ years, usually between long-term relationships), the study did uncover a growing number of middle-aged women who have embraced life on their own.

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