New research suggests women prefer being single to being in relationships with men.
It's believed to be because women tend to do most of the work in relationships, both physically and emotionally.
Data from a survey by consumer analysts Mintel shows 61 percent of single women are happy with their relationship status, compared to just 49 percent of single men.
The data also showed 75 percent of single women have not actively looked for a relationship in the past year, compared to 65 percent of single men who haven't.
The preference for solitude was particularly strong among women over 45. While 32 percent of single women aged between 45 and 65 said they were very happy alone, just 19 percent of similarly aged men said the same.
Professor Emily Grundy from the University of Essex, said women tend to put more work into relationships than men.
"There's evidence that women spend longer on domestic tasks than men and I think they also do more emotional work - so they still do more housework and cooking and things as well as more emotional labour," she told The Telegraph.
Women are more likely than men to try to resolve problems or arguments, as well as carry out more physical labour like household chores, Professor Grundy says.
She also says women are better at socialising while single.
"Women tend to be better at having alternative social networks and other confidantes, whereas men tend to rely quite heavily on their wives for that and have fewer other social ties.
"Certainly there's a common finding from a lot of studies that women who don't have a partner tend to do more social activities and have more friends compared to women with partners, whereas with men it's the reverse - men without a partner tend to do much less of that," she told The Telegraph.
"So it may be that women have a wider range of alternatives."
Newshub.
