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What are some of the work-life balance issues that single women face?

They don't have kids or a husband, so they shouldn't have any stresses, right? If I'm wrong, can you fill me in? Thanks! Oops, I mean single, childless women....

Public Comments

1. Oh yeah, I'm not about to get kicked out of school because my financial aid isn't complete; or about how I'm having a hard time in Web Design class but don't have any books to study and my teacher is a douche bag. Or how about I would lose my job if I wasn't a student anymore. Ooh and how I can't get any help for health insurance because I make minimum wage yet I have an Associate's Degree. Yeah my life is smooth sailing. Just because I'm child-free, doesn't make me stress-free or problem-free!
2. same as married women only we are single. Hey stress is stress.
3. Everyone is lonely and stressed sometimes—even married people. But most single women (as well as women with spouses) actually enjoy their solitude. Living alone can be lonely. Independence is important to their quality of life. Some love the freedom. I personally have a single female friend in her 40's and she is quite happy at this point because she finally has her own office, two dogs, she is childless and travels whenever she can. Does she stress? On occasions, she has mentioned to me that living in the big city, is simply not like "Sex and the City" movie. She doesn't lose sleep over it, seriously but she does have stress over her work, or over her parents, who are old and she is the only child. She is a wonderful friend, as fragile as I am when it comes to relationships and I'm married since 10 years, and two kids and a dog. I think you stress constantly as a human being, due to the choices you have made for yourself.
4. I used to be single and childless. I've worked since I was 15. I've always been stressed out - especially when I began working. You still have pressures that a married mother has, just not as many or always the same. We all face stress from handling our jobs well, social interactions and relationships, finances, family life, dealing with our own self-image, etc. Single women can suffer stress from being single. They have to date, or at least feel the pressure from others to date. They will usually put more focus on looking good so they can catch a mate, while married mothers aren't as concerned. It doesn't mean we don't care or take any time to make ourselves attractive, it's just not our number 1 priority and we learn how to do all of that in a very short amount of time and with little effort. Single women also are usually living by themselves, which means they have to constantly worry about safety issues. Single women are a big target for rapists, kidnappers, theives, and murderers - it's very stressful to deal with that reality. With all that said, they have to deal with all that stress on their own. They have no one to share it with. Married mothers have to deal with very different stresses. We have a TON. I would say more than a single, childless women. But, we get to have the happiness of being wives and mothers (well, those of us that enjoy our roles), the unconditional love of a child and husband, and we have someone to share our stresses with - even if by sharing, I mean yelling them at our husbands from time to time. :o)
5. The recession, health care costs, saving enough for retirement, occasional loneliness; pretty much universal concerns that we all face.
6. Finding time to do things they enjoy.
7. i think even if they are unmarried and dont have kids, women tend to prefer a better work-life balance. men on the other hand take the boring finance and engineering careers, relocate to other places and work overtime often at the expense of their personal lives. i think thats what creates the gender based wage gap also.
8. Not having that second income to rely on in case something happens like loss of employment or illness.
9. stress is self inflicted so it would be incorrect to say someone who don't have kids dont' have stress. crap kids these days have stress. now grant you some people may think what could a kid stress about. someone said that to me one day when i was younger. i was single no kids but i had a mother. ends were never met and bills ranked up and food well it came when it came. they still have worries like everyone else. friend worries family worries. they can stress about what outfit to buy to their next job. they have roles and what is important to that individual person if it don't go how they want chances are they will stress. also you never mentioned if this childess single women does she want a child? does she want to get married. as she ages she will stress more about that alone.