Single Adults In Society

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31765, 23 August 1968, Page 5

Single Adults In Society

The place and needs of single adults in the Church

and the community had received considerable attention from the Commission on Family Life, it was reported to the North Canterbury district of the Methodist Church annual synod on Wednesday. Census figures showed that one out of every five adults over 25 in New Zealand was single either unmarried, widowed, legally separated or divorced.

Both the Church and society had a long way to go in accepting single persons and recognising them as individuals of value, because there were relatively few of them in a local congregation, their needs were often overlooked, said the report.

While outward circumstances varied, there were certain problems which many single adults had in common, such things as establishing a home without the financial assistance available to married people, coping with the entire work connected with a home single-handed, making important decisions and planning leisure activities without the support of a partner.

The report suggested that the Church could do something to help meet some of these needs by establishing groups at district level, specifically for single adults, or a short series of meetings to enable them to share common concerns, companionship and a better acceptance of their situation. The report was received and adopted by the synod.