Society seems to expect people to have a partner or to be with their family, if not they at least expect people to be with friends. In fact it often hurts people financially to be single or alone, but worse sometimes single people can looked down upon or even sanctioned against which pretty harsh in my opinion, especially when many autistic people are single and find it more difficult to make friends through no fault of their own. Sometimes autistic people just prefer being alone and it should be their choice, but society most definitely tries to make this more difficult as I will explain in more detail with the examples below.
Examples of single people being hurt financially:
I'm not certain about the system in other countries, but in the UK you pay Council Tax on your home unless you are receiving certain welfare benefits, if you are living alone you only get 25% off the total amount, so if there's 2 of you it works out much cheaper each and even cheaper still if there's even more people. If you live in a larger property your Council Tax band will increase that also effects the total cost, but it still usually works out much cheaper per person if more people live under the same roof and often couples will live in exactly the same 1 bedroom property as a single person. Single people therefore have a very raw deal here (this is not a political discussion and is therefore not in the Politics & Religion section, please bear this in mind if you wish to reply).
I suppose this part can't really be helped, but household utility bills usually work out a lot cheaper when split between more than one person, for instance you're unlikely to use twice as much gas or electricity if there's 2 of you, in fact you're likely to use just a bit more and even water bills won't usually cost double for 2 people, especially if it's not metered (a fixed price per property). Similarly rent or mortgage costs can be a lot harder on a single person, especially when couples will often live in exactly the same sized property and split the costs.
A TV licence in the UK costs exactly the same for a single person living in a small flat with just 1 TV as a large family in a house with multiple TVs because they're charged per household with no single person discount, this is something that could be changed and currently this is especially harsh on single people.
When going on holiday there's usually very harsh single supplements and in hotels singles often end up paying double for a double room on their own. Yes, there's specialist singles holidays, but they're all about socialising in large groups which is something not too many autistic people enjoy doing either.
Again this can't really be helped, but it costs a lot more for a taxi or to drive if you're not splitting the cost by car sharing and single people are harshly penalised here. Yes, there's car sharing sites, but if you're not a driver you have to be extremely lucky to find someone who is travelling to the place you want at the right time and is willing to accept a single person they don't know, plus you are risking getting into a stranger's car which isn't in my opinion much safer than hitchhiking even if there is some reputation system. If you have a vehicle you are still allowing strangers into your vehicle which is also a risk. Car insurance is another thing that can really hurt single people because a couple can often insure both people on the same vehicle for only a little more than just one.
Even on public transport, I noticed that an all day bus ticket in Birmingham costs £4.60 and £4.00 after 9.30am at the time of writing, but for £8 up to 5 people (adults or children) can travel together making it cost as little as £1.60 each and this is even cheaper after 6pm when a "family day saver" costs only £6, plus you can actually have up to 6 people travel for the same price if it's 2 adults and 4 children together.
Examples of single people feeling out of place:
You can often feel out of place on your own in many restaurants where 2 or more people are normally expected. There's usually no such thing as a table for 1, you would be lead to a table for 2 if you really did decide to go on your own.
People seem to expect couples to go to the cinema together or at least for someone to go accompanied by one or more people, similar is true when visiting the theatre and even music events / performances.
People are often seen as "sad" or worse even "weird" in many pubs, bars and night clubs if they attend alone unless they at least know people well there to talk to. Yes, there maybe singles clubs or special singles nights, but even then people are normally expected to attend with at least one friend and these sorts of places or events aren't for everyone.
Certain types of clubs can even restrict access to single people completely, especially single men.
Not only are holidays usually more expensive as a single person as I mentioned earlier, but unless it's a singles holiday which isn't what every single person wants, you can also feel extremely out of place. I once went on a day coach trip to the Isle of Wright when I was a younger adult and I felt extremely uncomfortable as the only person on his own, in fact a really nice elderly couple started talking to me, but I still felt very uncomfortable because I think they felt sorry for me because they were really surprised that I wasn't with anyone. Before I became vegetarian in 1996 I went deep sea fishing for the day and again I was the only person on his own, and again I had someone who seemed to feel really sorry for me which made me feel really uncomfortable. Even if you for instance visit a theme park people seem to expect 2 or more people together and will look down at you if they realise you are alone, or even feel sorry for you.
Most definitely don't go out anywhere if you're single on Valentine's Day, this can be an extra kick in the teeth for single people, but other special days can also be difficult if you're alone like Christmas for instance.
Examples of single people being hurt financially:
I'm not certain about the system in other countries, but in the UK you pay Council Tax on your home unless you are receiving certain welfare benefits, if you are living alone you only get 25% off the total amount, so if there's 2 of you it works out much cheaper each and even cheaper still if there's even more people. If you live in a larger property your Council Tax band will increase that also effects the total cost, but it still usually works out much cheaper per person if more people live under the same roof and often couples will live in exactly the same 1 bedroom property as a single person. Single people therefore have a very raw deal here (this is not a political discussion and is therefore not in the Politics & Religion section, please bear this in mind if you wish to reply).
I suppose this part can't really be helped, but household utility bills usually work out a lot cheaper when split between more than one person, for instance you're unlikely to use twice as much gas or electricity if there's 2 of you, in fact you're likely to use just a bit more and even water bills won't usually cost double for 2 people, especially if it's not metered (a fixed price per property). Similarly rent or mortgage costs can be a lot harder on a single person, especially when couples will often live in exactly the same sized property and split the costs.
A TV licence in the UK costs exactly the same for a single person living in a small flat with just 1 TV as a large family in a house with multiple TVs because they're charged per household with no single person discount, this is something that could be changed and currently this is especially harsh on single people.
When going on holiday there's usually very harsh single supplements and in hotels singles often end up paying double for a double room on their own. Yes, there's specialist singles holidays, but they're all about socialising in large groups which is something not too many autistic people enjoy doing either.
Again this can't really be helped, but it costs a lot more for a taxi or to drive if you're not splitting the cost by car sharing and single people are harshly penalised here. Yes, there's car sharing sites, but if you're not a driver you have to be extremely lucky to find someone who is travelling to the place you want at the right time and is willing to accept a single person they don't know, plus you are risking getting into a stranger's car which isn't in my opinion much safer than hitchhiking even if there is some reputation system. If you have a vehicle you are still allowing strangers into your vehicle which is also a risk. Car insurance is another thing that can really hurt single people because a couple can often insure both people on the same vehicle for only a little more than just one.
Even on public transport, I noticed that an all day bus ticket in Birmingham costs £4.60 and £4.00 after 9.30am at the time of writing, but for £8 up to 5 people (adults or children) can travel together making it cost as little as £1.60 each and this is even cheaper after 6pm when a "family day saver" costs only £6, plus you can actually have up to 6 people travel for the same price if it's 2 adults and 4 children together.
Examples of single people feeling out of place:
You can often feel out of place on your own in many restaurants where 2 or more people are normally expected. There's usually no such thing as a table for 1, you would be lead to a table for 2 if you really did decide to go on your own.
People seem to expect couples to go to the cinema together or at least for someone to go accompanied by one or more people, similar is true when visiting the theatre and even music events / performances.
People are often seen as "sad" or worse even "weird" in many pubs, bars and night clubs if they attend alone unless they at least know people well there to talk to. Yes, there maybe singles clubs or special singles nights, but even then people are normally expected to attend with at least one friend and these sorts of places or events aren't for everyone.
Certain types of clubs can even restrict access to single people completely, especially single men.
Not only are holidays usually more expensive as a single person as I mentioned earlier, but unless it's a singles holiday which isn't what every single person wants, you can also feel extremely out of place. I once went on a day coach trip to the Isle of Wright when I was a younger adult and I felt extremely uncomfortable as the only person on his own, in fact a really nice elderly couple started talking to me, but I still felt very uncomfortable because I think they felt sorry for me because they were really surprised that I wasn't with anyone. Before I became vegetarian in 1996 I went deep sea fishing for the day and again I was the only person on his own, and again I had someone who seemed to feel really sorry for me which made me feel really uncomfortable. Even if you for instance visit a theme park people seem to expect 2 or more people together and will look down at you if they realise you are alone, or even feel sorry for you.
Most definitely don't go out anywhere if you're single on Valentine's Day, this can be an extra kick in the teeth for single people, but other special days can also be difficult if you're alone like Christmas for instance.
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