Prague, Nov 10 (CTK) – Roughly one-quarter of Czechs in their mid-forties and mid-fifties live as singles, daily Pravo wrote on Friday, citing the figures of a poll and denying the general idea that singles most frequently appear among people under 35.
Many polls show that if young people under 35 did not find a solid shelter in their parents’ place, they mostly live alone, not establishing any solid partnership relationships.
They enjoy the freedom, postponing the foundation of a family until later. They are called singles, Pravo writes.
However, a poll conducted by the Postovni sporitelna (PS) savings bank has shown that roughly one-quarter of Czechs in the median age live alone, too.
“At the age of 35-44, 25 percent of Czechs are single. However, the figure is as high as 28 percent among those between 45 and 54,” PS director Premysl Hanzelka is quoted as saying.
“We often tend to perceive singles as the people who are young and decided to found a family later. However, the figures from our poll have uncovered a very interesting fact. In the age category between 25 and 34, the number of singles is the lowest,” he added.
According to the Czech Statistical Office (CSU), singles account for roughly one-third of all households.
“However, while the large number of one-member households may be understood as something natural among the youngest people and the elderly, we were surprised at over one-quarter of Czechs in the middle and advanced age not sharing their homes with anyone,” Hanzelka said.
The poll has also revealed that the bigger the town, the bigger the number of singles, Pravo writes.
In the towns with over 100,000 people, one-third of their residents live neither with any partner nor their parents, the poll said.
On the other hand, only 14 percent of Czechs live alone in the smallest municipalities.
This seems to fulfil the forecasts of sociologists and economic visionaries who predicted at the beginning of the millennium that the more people communicate via networks, the more they are alone, Pravo writes.
“The overwhelming majority of the people who live alone say they do not want to live so. It is simply difficult for them to find a right partner sharing their priorities, values and aims,” psychologist Kristyna Zavadilova said.
“The demands for the partner, oneself and the lifestyle are so big and so firmly set that it is difficult to find a right partner,” she added.
Most singles advocate the theory that it is better to live alone rather than pushing down the limits or living with someone who does not correspond with their ideas, Zavadilova said.
“People have high expectations and are not ready to make any compromises,” she added.
The poll was conducted on a sample of 1,400 people.
