Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-jswmv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-15T17:09:53.967Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Who Remains Celibate?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Kathleen E. Kiernan
Kathleen E. Kiernan
Affiliation:
Social Statistics Research Unit, City University, Northampton Square, London
Get accessRights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Who are the men and women who are single in their mid-30s? This study, which uses life history data for a British cohort born in 1946, shows that an important minority are ‘handicapped’ and these adults are cared for primarily by their families, in particular by elderly parents. Celibates tend to be more introverted, ambitious and to have older marrying parents than their ever-married peers. Single women differ from single men. The women are more likely to be of higher ability, to be graduates and to be in high status occupations whilst single men are more likely to be members of the lowest social class or unemployed. The great majority of single people live either with their parents or on their own.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , July 1988, pp. 253 - 264
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Atkins, E., Cherry, N. M, Douglas, J. W. B., Kiernan, K. E. & Wadsworth, M. E. J. (1981) The 1946 British birth survey: an account of the origins, progress and results of the National Survey of Health and Development. In: An Empirical Basis for Primary Prevention: Prospective Longitudinal Research in Europe. Edited by Mednick, S. A. & Baest, A. E.. Oxford University Press, London.Google Scholar
Bone, M. (1986) Trends in single women's sexual behaviour in Scotland. Popul. Trends, 43, 7.Google Scholar
Brown, A. & Kiernan, K. E. (1981) Cohabitation in Great Britain: evidence from the General Household Survey. Popul. Trends, 25, 4.Google Scholar
Carter, H. & Glick, P. C. (1970) Marriage and Divorce: a Social and Economic Study. Vital and Health Statistics Monographs, American Public Health Association. Harvard University Press, London.Google Scholar
Cherry, N. (1974) Components of occupational interest. Br. J. educ. Psychol. 44, 22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cookingham, M. E. (1984) Bluestockings, spinsters and pedagogues: women college graduates, 1865 to 1910. Popul. Stud. 38, 3.Google ScholarPubMed
Douglas, J. W. B. (1976) The use and abuse of national cohorts. In: The Organisation and Impact of Social Research. Edited by Shipman, M.. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.Google Scholar
Douglas, J. W. B., Ross, J. M. & Simpson, H. R. (1968) All Our Future. Davies, London.Google Scholar
Eysenck, H. J. (1958) A short questionnaire for the measurement of two dimensions of personality. J. appl. Psychol. 42, 14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeman, R. & Klaus, P. (1984) Blessed or not? The new spinster in England and the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. J. fam. Hist. 9, 4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guy, C. (1983) Asking About Marriage. National Marriage Guidance Council, London.Google Scholar
Kiernan, K. E. (1986) Transitions in Young Adulthood. Working Paper No. 16, National Child Development Study User Support Group, City University, London.Google Scholar
Kiernan, K. E. & Eldridge, S. M. (1985) A Demographic Analysis of First Marriages in England and Wales 1950 to 1980. Research Paper No. 85–1. Centre for Population Studies, London.Google Scholar
Kiernan, K. E. & Eldridge, S. M. (1987) Inter and intra cohort variation in the timing of first marriage. Br. J. Sociol. 38, 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mount, F. (1982) The Subversive Family. Jonathan Cape, London.Google Scholar
OPCS (Annual) Marriage and Divorce Statistics. HM Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Parker, G. (1985) With Due Care and Attention: A Review of Research on Informal Care. Family Policy Studies Centre, London.Google Scholar
Study Commission on the Family (1982) Values and the Changing Family. Family Policy Studies Centre, London.Google Scholar
Townsend, P. (1957) The Family Life of Old People. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.Google Scholar