machado: 'couple privilege' makes it hard to be single, harder if you're a senior

as the years passed and the number of canada’s singles continue to increase — as of 2016, more than 28 per cent of canadian households (that’s almost four million) were home to one person, with that number expected to grow to five million — it seems we have got a bit better at diversifying grocery options to meet the needs of single-person households. my local grocery store now stocks ready-made meals for one — an area of the store known as the “grocerant ,” a combination of the words ‘grocery’ and ‘restaurant’ — offers plastic-wrapped quarters of large fruit like watermelons and cantaloupe and just one or two saucy chicken drumsticks instead of the usual family pack.

but it’s more than just the providers of groceries that have to catch up to the needs of those who are not part of a larger unit. think: the ‘dinner for two’ special at your local restaurant, the family discount at the gym only offered to people who are related, or recipes tailored to two or more. even the discharge rule after a medical procedure that states someone must pick you up highlights the problem with “singlism.” in this reddit post , a woman without immediate access to her partner or family members shares how she was not allowed to leave the hospital by herself after receiving medical care, even though she had arranged an uber pickup.

in fact, spend any time in the world of singlehood, and it becomes apparent that life as one — in addition to intense loneliness for some and freedom for others — has some serious economical and social support downsides. there’s even a name for it: couple privilege .

“why is life in this country so hostile to single people?” asks anne helen petersen in a piece for vox . she bemoans the fact that living solo in the u.s. — on purpose or regretfully — is prohibitively expensive when there isn’t another set of hands to contribute income. but even more than that, she points out that public safety net programs like pensions and health insurance coverage are cheaper and better when you have a partner. and then there are exclusive benefits like parental leave (we should think about leave that works for those without children, she suggests) and time off to care for family members, but none to care for those not considered “blood” relatives.

similarly, in canada, couple- and family-hood puts you in a better place when it comes to financial security — even more so if you are a senior, particularly one who has lost a partner due to divorce or death . tax benefits like income splitting disappear, cpp payments and old age security are clawed back and rsp/rif payments result in a higher tax bill in the case of the death of one partner.

and while changing tax laws and benefits rules requires a vote, letters to mps and a good dose of patience, your trip to the grocery store doesn’t have to be so onerous. according to food52 columnist eric kim , there are ways to make the grocery store fit with your single needs, including stocking up on non-perishable pantry items like pasta and rice and buying main dishes like salmon or ribs, dividing them into single servings and packing them into plastic bags and freezing them.