SINGLETONS UNITE: People who live alone are more likely to eat out, exercise, attend extracurricular classes, public events and lectures and volunteer.

New research suggests people who live alone may be happier and more social than their cohabiting cohorts.

Rather than the single-individual householder being ''sad, lonely old baby boomers" as demographer Bernard Salt put it, a new book, Going Solo - The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone by Eric Klinenberg, argues that we are increasingly learning to fly solo and, in the process, devising new ways of living.

"Today the majority of people who live alone are actually more socially active with friends and neighbours than their married counterparts," Klinenberg, a Professor of Sociology at New York University tells me.

"They do get lonely sometimes, but the people I interviewed said that there's nothing lonelier than living with the wrong person."

Klinenberg conducted more than 300 in-depth interviews of 'singletons' (his term) across all ages and classes in the US and came to the conclusion that this way of life can help us discover things about ourselves as well as appreciate the pleasure of good company.

"Living in a city makes it much easier for singletons to get out into the public realm and contribute to the common good," he says.

He found that those living solo are more likely to eat out, exercise, attend extracurricular classes, public events and lectures, and volunteer. After all this socialising, for solo dwellers, nothing could be more appealing than retreating to their exile on main street.

Tina McPhee, 38, a South Australian business owner has lived alone for over five years and wouldn't have it any other way.

"I was married for two years and dated my ex-husband for four years but prior to that I was living alone for almost three years. I've dated sporadically but am extremely happy with both my single life and my living arrangements. My time is mine, my space is mine and I never, ever feel lonely," she says.

"If you have a great network of single and attached friends, a supportive family, someone you can travel with and interests outside the home, a good sense of self or willingness to discover, then solo living isn't something to be feared, it's something to be embraced."

Matt Eliason, 52, who works in e-commerce, lives alone and works from home and makes an effort to get involved in the community.

"Working at home places me in a unique situation, in that, I could go for days without face-to-face contact, hence the need to develop alternative ways [of making contact], I have just started some volunteer work with a refugee group which is satisfying," he says.

There's a big difference between living alone and being lonely. Despite this, the age-old stigmas remain about 'solitary confinement'. Inevitably women living alone with feline company are deemed crazy cat ladies, and remember that card game called Old Maid?

"It is still the perception," says Klinenberg. "Think of the iconic Edward Hopper paintings of lonely souls in the city, or of the Lone Ranger and the spinster, these images need to be updated."

Christine Lewis, 41, who works in tourism in Daylesford, Victoria has been living solo for 16 months after cohabiting with partners for the last 21 years. Outside of work, she plans events within the local community and relishes being able to arrive and leave social events whenever she likes.

"Some may call it [living solo] selfish, I call it starting to live for me," she says. "It's only in the last 12 months that I have realised that we can compromise so much for another person that we forget to invest in ourselves and be our own person."

"The sad thing is that society is focused on trying to convince people that being solo is less successful and fulfilling than those who live as a couple. I don't buy that line of thought," says Christine.

It's a way of living that is growing at an unprecedented rate. Klinenberg puts the growing trend down to a four major factors.

"The rising status of women has been essential to the change, because their economic independence and personal freedom allowed women to delay marriage or escape failing ones," he says.

"Then there's the communications revolution, beginning with the telephone and continuing to Facebook and Skype, because these technologies allow people to be connected even while they're home alone.

"Urbanisation is a third force, because it created booming subcultures of singles who live alone, together in particular urban neighbourhoods throughout the world. Finally, there's the longevity revolution, which has made ageing alone a common experience too."

In his research, Klinenberg learned that people go solo at all stages of life, he was surprised to find that the fastest-growing group of singletons is people under 35. It seems the lure of shared households - where bills are itemised and fought over and food sometimes labeled in the fridge - is an option that no longer appeals. As the song goes 'Two can be as bad as one, it's the loneliest number since the number one.'

Stephanie Ryan, 32, who works in PR has just moved out on her own and has two girlfriends who have just done the same.

"Since I've moved in just a couple of weeks ago I don't think I've had one night off from socialising," she says.

"Personally, I don't know anyone that lives alone who doesn't love it."

Are you a sad spinster or a social singleton? Would you rather live alone or with a mate?

-Sydney Morning Herald