The Root contributing editor Helena Andrews, writing at xoJane, asks herself why she can't seem to stop consuming the depressing news about the fate of the unmarried.
"Over a lifetime, unmarried women can pay as much as a million dollars more than their married counterparts for healthcare, taxes, and more," says the Atlantic, which is rapidly becoming the go-to destination for all your sad single lady headlines.
The article, "The High Price of Being Single," lays out the myriad of legal ways unmarrieds get screwed on the financial front with a bunch of numbers representing health care costs, social security benefits and housing.
My eyes started glazing over as soon as they started talking tax filing status because math, but I tried to soldier on till the end like I do with every story about the plight of the single woman since she is me. About halfway through I thought, "Why am I reading this?" …
The tragic unmarried is quickly becoming the mascot of my generation. She (or he) will earn less, die young and will probably be depressed during his or her short and sucktastic single life. Whenever a new study comes out bemoaning the sad state of those among us who are unhitched, I pour over the doomsday data and waste hours of my life, but I'm never left with more than a "Meh" type feeling.
Read Helena Andrews' entire piece at xoJane.
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Helena Andrews is a contributing editor at The Root and author of Bitch Is the New Black, a memoir in essays. Follow her on Twitter.