> First, why do you think that the number of
> singles is increasing? Is it just that
> people are busier, or is there more to it
> than that....?

First, ARE the number of singles increasing for real? Or is what is called "single" covering a wider area?

If you're engaged (whether you live together or not) or are involved and therefore "spoken for" (whether you're living together or not), you are, in my opinion, not single.

However, as you're not married, technically you're single.

At what age do I decide someone is available to be called single?

Having decided what the accepted definition of single is, when used in this "trend", I'd then need to know how it pans out as a percentage.

If 10% of the population are single and the population is 100, then 10 are single.

If 10% of the population are single and the population is 200, then 20 are single. In real number terms, the number of people who are single has increased. As a percentage though, the number of single people has stayed the same.

To hear, "the number of single people are increasing" without knowing all the guidelines that were used to come to this conclusion, makes the statement a bit meaningless.

Having said that, lets assume the definition of what is single has stayed the same and the increase is percentage based.

The question was "Why?".

One reason is

Burning Bras.

Women have been conned into believing they should go out and work.

I say "conned" because I cannot comprehend any women who, when given the choice of long work hours or "honey you stay home and let me do all the hard work and provide for you and look after you", would choose to work.

Me not understanding Why a person would choose to work over being looked after doesn't stop it from happening though. So that's one reason.

It means, no longer does a girl/women get married and let the man provide. She now "Works".

Her goal shifts from finding a mate (only briefly mind you - you can't fool nature) to a career. And that means less time for boys, for the time being.

This career thing also means more study - night courses, university, etc.

The domain of nearly all men learning centres has given way to co-ed learning centres. Of course, it also means more money for the learning centres. So they'd gladly keep the con alive.

Time spent in a learning centre means less time for boys.

Another reason stems from modern technology.

We now have more and more entertainments. And easier access to information about entertainments and other things.

Years ago a girl might not have known what the latest fashions coming out of Europe were. But now, she can't not know. It screams at her from the magazine rack, it screams at her from the TV. If she wants to stay "hip" and "up to date" with the fashion world, she needs money.

To feed her fashion addiction to the extent she's been brainwashed by the fashion houses, she needs a source of income. That means a careers (less time for boys) and the schooling to get the career (less time for boys).

So she stays single, longer.

Also, the desire to follow the fashion trends makes a woman less-attractive to a guy. So they guy want them less.

Girls... want to know what looks good on you? Ask a real man, don't listen to lesbian fashion magazine editors and poofter clothing designers.

Hint: Marilyn Monroe wasn't a sex-symbol for nothing. And I cannot imagine her being thought of as "sexy" if she'd worn clogg-heeled shoes, hipster-flare pants and a boy hair style.

Most people don't go to university for the sake of their career. They may say that's why they go. But deep deep down, if they were totaly truthful, they'd say, "it's just what you do." Yep, most go to university because that's what you do. Just like you go from junior classes to senior classes. From PRE-school to school. Primary school to high school. From high school to university. It's just what you do. It's the now-automated path of learning.

On top of this (as if this isn't enough already), you have parents, who were brought up in a different climate, wanting their kids to "have the education they never had" and to BE lawyers and Doctors and other big-money individuals.

Some parents would even see the success of their child as a kind of trophie.

Also, more people have bought into the myth of their own home being their biggest asset. To acquire this asset means money which means career which means schooling which means less time for boys.

Anyway. The need for money creates the need to get an income source, which means more schooling, and goes hand in hand to mean a career, which means less time for boys. All coupled with the acceptibility of it all created by GERMaine Greer.

> Also, what other opportunities could there
> be from this apparent trend....?

The opportunities available, assuming this trend was in fact real, would depend on the area the trend was in.

Is this trend based on trailer-trash professional-welfare-bludgers or higher income earning individuals?

If it's the trailer-trash professional-welfare-bludger, then they are staying single cause the government will look after them quite nicely. (just like they could have been looked after by a man in the old days. Isn't this ironic?). This "group" has little spare money.

If it's the higher income group, then first thing you need to do is figure out what generation they are. If they're generation X, good luck to you HA! GenX is probably the hardest group to sell to.

Really though, you'd have to get inside their head to know what could be available.

Pet care? Do they even own pets?

House/flat cleaning? They may not like giving the key to someone to come in and clean while they're out enjoying their hyper-spending-and-consuming lifestyle.

Personaly I'd go with something they are already spening money on.

Singles Club? Maybe. Maybe not. They may be too engrossed in their career to bother hitting the singles clubs. Besides, they're single cause they aren't doing too much in the way of finding a mate. It could bea good idea for when they're ready to "settle down".

Home delivered "insert item here".

Food - they're too busy to cook, or were never taught how.
Entertainments - save them time browsing the video store shelves by delivering the videos to their door. Assuming nothing good is on HBO :o)
Dry Cleaning - pick it up and deliver it.

Whatever. Find something they're spending money on already and that'll make your life a heck of a lot easier when getting in to this market.

Keep an eye out for things which are taking off, and which aren't in your area yet. Then transplant it to your area.

Live in a university town? Then find out what's taking off for university students and bring it to your town - or take it to a university town that doesn't have it yet. You get the idea.

Researching this market should reveal all the opportunities you'll ever need.

Michael Ross.