Paper short abstract:

This paper will compare two cases of singleness in present-day Spain, based on ethnographic research carried out by the author and by other researchers. I will discuss the origin of singleness among men in a rural area of Spain and the origin of singleness among independent working women in Spain in general, and the effects of singleness in both cases on family formation.

Paper long abstract:

Living as a single adult or as part of a couple is the result of the interaction of structural conditions, cultural understandings, and personal options. This paper will compare two cases of singleness in present-day Spain, based on ethnographic research carried out by the author and by other researchers. I will discuss the origin of singleness among men in a rural area of Spain and the origin of singleness among independent working women in Spain in general, and the effects of singleness in both cases on family formation. In both groups, singleness seems to be the result of changes in the life course, specifically of changes in the timing of vital conjunctures. More than an a priori choice to remain single, people in both cases seem to make a series of decisions that result, often to their surprise, in singleness.

In the first case, my own research on men in a rural area in Spain shows that career decisions made at a young age unintentionally limit their chances of finding a partner. In this context, remaining single effectively truncates plans for forming a family. In the second case, the research of colleagues shows that singleness, while often an unexpected situation for independent Spanish working women, is not an insurmountable obstacle to family formation. I suggest that the concepts of what men and women are and what they do in the two different contexts are at the root of the diverse relation between singleness and family formation.