(Globe and Mail) Living alone: a testament to freedom or an erosion of society?

A few months ago, Nicki Roswell had a knock on her door. A neighbour needed the back of her dress laced up and didn’t have anyone to do it for her. Ms. Roswell sympathized, since she lives alone herself, and fastened the woman’s clothing.The two are residents of Liberty Village, a fast-growing downtown Toronto neighbourhood where nearly 55 per cent of the population ”“ 2,200 people, from ambitious twentysomethings to midlife professionals ”“ resides solo.

While they may live by themselves, demographically they are in good company: There are now, for the first time, more one-person households in Canada than those populated by couples who have children. (Only two-person households are more common.)

Census figures released last fall revealed that 27.6 per cent of Canadian homes have just one occupant, a vast shift from decades past.

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Posted in * Culture-Watch, * International News & Commentary, Canada, Children, Marriage & Family, Young Adults