The Intimate Relationships of Contemporary Spinsters

Several theorists of social change have argued that there are profoundtransformations in social interactions emerging in the context of wider social,cultural and economic change, including a shift to greater choice and fluidityin personal relationships. Alongside this, there has been widespread academicsupport for the notion of individualism as a major explanation of family change,with several commentators raising concerns that changing familial forms signalincreasing self-centredness and a decline in commitments to others. Remainingsingle can be seen as paradigmatic of such individualisation, and single womenin particular risk being characterised by their lack of connection tosignificant others. However, there has been relatively little empiricalattention to the relationships of single people. This paper draws on research onnever-married single women in Britain and analyses their relationships with bothkin and non-kin in relation to claimed transformations in intimacy prevalent incontemporary debates. It concludes by considering the implications of the mainfindings of this research for sociological debates about the changingconceptions of both intimacy and ‘the family’.