According to a study by data analysts¹ Mintel, 61 per cent of single women are happy being single, versus² 49 per cent of single men.

根据研究员敏特（Mintel）的调查显示，61%的单身女性对单身状态非常满足，男性的这一比例为49%。

The survey also found that 75 per cent of single women have not actively³ looked for a relationship in the last year, compared to 65 per cent of single men.

调查还显示，去年，75%的单身女性对寻找伴侣并不热忱，65%的男性同样未显示出兴趣。

And the proposed reason for this is that for women, being in a heterosexual relationship is actually a lot of hard work, and generally requires more effort and labour than for men.

原因可能在于，女性在进入一段关系后，要承担更多的工作，需要比男性付出更多。

“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,” Professor Emily Grundy, of the University of Essex, told The Telegraph.

爱希克斯大学（University of Essex）教授艾米丽·格润蒂（Emily Grundy）告诉英国《电讯报》（The Telegraph）：“证据表明，女性在家务上花费的时间多于男性。而且女性的情感更为浓烈。所以她们既要做更多的家务，做饭啊什么的，又要承担更多的情感负担。”

What's more, women are simply happier being single than men are. We’re better at socialising by ourselves and are more likely to have close friends we feel we can turn to in times of need.

另外，单身女性比单身男性更快乐。女性更善于社交，拥有患难之交的几率更大。

“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 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.

“多项研究表明，没有伴侣的女性会从事更多社会事业，交更多的朋友，有伴侣的女性则不同，而单身男性只会减少从事社会事业。”

“So it may be that women have a wider range of alternatives,” she said.

“除了伴侣，女性可能会有更多样的选择。”

There's also the fact that the stigma⁴ of being a single woman is gradually changing.

也有事实表明，女性对单身状态的羞愧感也在逐渐改变。

The concept of spinsters and bachelors is on the way out, and society is finally realising that yes, many single women aren’t in relationships because they’re actually happy being independent, doing whatever they want with their time, and they don’t actually need anyone else.

单身的概念逐步得以淘汰，社会最终会意识到，很多单身女性不寻找伴侣，是因为她们对独立的状态很满足，可以做任何想做的事，并不需要伴侣。