Single working women come in all shapes, sizes, ages, and spiritual and economic groupings. So what do single working women have in common?
The biggest things we most likely have in common are the prejudices we all tend to live with at work and in our day-to-day dealings with the world. Despite the growing percentage of women who remain–or return to being–single (51% was the last official number, but that’s been over a year ago…), you still may have to prove twice as creditworthy as a couple to get a loan. You may receive significantly less in company benefits than a married employee. You may be asked to work longer hours and on holidays more than married employees. Where tickets and prices depend on double occupancy or special deals for two, you generally pay more to go on a vacation, rent a hotel, and so on.
And you may also be looked askance at for showing up alone at a musical or other event. People often avoid talking to a single woman where they might tend to be friendly to another couple. Your co-workers might think it’s okay to talk out of line about you and even to you–after all, you’re single. They may completely ignore you while making plans with other co-worker couples to get together. You may be marked as a target for unscrupulous vendors who would like to think they can hoodwink you about needed repairs or fair prices.
And what else? Your never-ending responsibility! It’s you who always takes the garbage out. It’s you who always shops for groceries, puts them away, plans and cooks meals, walks the dog, cleans up after it, makes the vet runs. If you have a car, it’s you who drives everywhere–isn’t it fun to be a passenger once in a while? It’s you who manages the money, searches for vacation ideas, handles the contractors, pays the bills, starts the car on freezing cold mornings, takes cars and machines to be repaired, and on, and on.
And it’s you who earns the living, cleans the house, and orchestrates a social life. Oh, and if you’re a single mom, you’re raising the kid(s), too!
You should be rightly impressed with your accomplishments. And at SWWAN we say, Hurray for you, single working woman. Your courage, creativity, and persistence are inspiring.
We salute your strength in making your life uniquely your own. Hopefully part of that life is finding and cultivating lots of good friends who love you and can give you an occasional break!
