What did you take away from the HERFuture forecast?
That the world is finally changing for single people.
Being single in your 30s can sometimes feel like doing life on hard mode. Not only does everyone view you as having this huge project you haven’t started yet (“Are you on the apps?”), but you are ultimately responsible for everything in your life.
There’s no one to pick up the pieces after a hard day or bring their strengths to balance out your weakness. To add insult to injury, it is unfairly expensive to be single. Do you know what really helps the cost of living crisis? Sharing the rent/mortgage, splitting Ubers, and having multiple accounts for streaming services without technically breaking the rules.
Thank God the world is adapting to the growing number of women rethinking marriage, babies, and even living with a partner.
Almost half (49 per cent) of respondents said they don’t feel pressure from society to ‘live a certain way’, while 30 per cent said they plan to remain child-free.
Travel, beauty and hospitality are set to be reframed over the next few years with single people in mind — it can’t come soon enough.
While the HERFuture forecast can be confronting, the pay gap rages on. What did you find most heartening?
Definitely that 84 per cent of people said living in a diverse and inclusive society is important to them.
It can sometimes feel like we live in a world resistant to championing true diversity and inclusivity, whether that’s by welcoming trans women into sporting arenas or promoting women of colour to senior leadership roles.
We have a long way to go in achieving an inclusive society. It’s heartening to know most people are on board to get there.
What surprised you the most about the findings in the HERFuture research?
The connection between women’s empowerment and the metaverse. I’m deeply sceptical of NFTs and crypto, but Web3 is in our future. How we create that future in an equal way will be an interesting one to watch.
The HERFuture research highlighted how the pandemic impacted women. What were your key takeaways?
