Article: Singlehood and the Law: A Global Perspective

The chapter provides an introduction to issues involving single people and the law. Accordingly, it explores legal approaches to singlehood and non-singlehood, and it articulates the most significant questions for future directions from a global perspective. The chapter primarily focuses on developing a descriptive model of legal classifications of single and non-single people, distinguishing legal issues from those in psychology, sociology, economics, and popular culture. Singlehood status matters in contexts ranging from family formation and reproductive rights to retirement security, tax laws, zoning, public benefits-and beyond. As the chapter shows, the status of singlehood might have drawbacks or benefits, depending on the category and the national approach to a particular legal issue. This descriptive model should be applicable throughout different legal systems, and the chapter uses Taiwan and the United States as examples of the utility of this model.