How single women are made invisible

In India, marriage is still seen as central to a woman’s identity and respectability. According to the 2011 Census, there are over 70 million women living outside the bounds of marriage -- including widows, separated, divorced, abandoned, and never-married women. That is 12% of India’s female population. These ‘single women’ are often treated as social anomalies — women who have strayed from the so-called ‘natural’ trajectory of life. They are branded as failures for not securing a husband or, worse, as threats to the sanctity of family life itself. Society rarely sees singlehood as a deliberate choice. Instead, it is framed as a temporary state, a deficiency, or an undesirable condition. 

Single women face daily challenges simply because they are unmarried. Families often pressure them into marriage, ignoring personal goals, aspirations, and choices. Unmarried daughters are expected to care for ageing parents or younger siblings, often giving up education or jobs. Even ambitious women face early marriage pressure, which can cut short their dreams. Many single women remain financially dependent on their families, expected to contribute but denied respect or financial decision-making power. Non-working single women face more marginalisation, while even working women encounter bias in the workplace, like being seen as unreliable or “too emotional”, and missing out on promotions.

In cities, single women often struggle to find housing, as landlords associate their status with loose morality. They are excluded from clubs and associations and face judgement in everyday spaces, simply for being unmarried.

Living in a society that questions their worth, many single women experience emotional isolation, loneliness, and guilt.

With limited support systems, they carry the mental burden of navigating a patriarchal world alone. Without safety nets like affordable housing, career mentorship, or protection from harassment, urban single women are especially vulnerable. Society plays a “watchdog” role, monitoring their friendships, independence, and movement with suspicion.

Legal barriers

Beyond social exclusion, India’s legal and policy frameworks often fail to recognise single women’s rights. Single women can legally nominate non-family members for insurance, but these nominations are often scrutinised or ignored. Personal laws often override nominations, leading to legal disputes. The Married Women’s Property Act, 1874, protects only married women, leaving single women without legal recourse for securing life insurance benefits. The Income Tax Act, 1961 (Section 80D), allows married people to claim deductions for spouses and children. Single women receive no such benefits, even if they have dependants or incur equal costs. 

The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, only allows married couples and certain divorced/widowed women (aged 35–45) to access altruistic surrogacy. Unmarried women of any age are excluded, denying them the right to parenthood. This reinforces traditional family norms. Under Section 8 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, single women can adopt, but only under conditions. Section 11 requires them to be at least 21 years older than a male child they wish to adopt, a rule not applied to married couples. This implies that single women are less capable or appropriate caregivers, especially for boys.

Single women are mothers, workers, caregivers, survivors, and individuals in their own right. Still, their rights are often treated as less valid than those of married women. India lacks a national policy that recognises them as a distinct socio-economic group deserving targeted support. While some states provide pensions to widows or deserted women, there is no systemic framework to identify, document, or assist the 71 million women living outside marriage. Without official recognition of their single status, they are routinely excluded from both household-level and individual entitlements, falling through the cracks between marital and paternal dependency. This exclusion is rooted in patriarchal fears of women who live independently and challenge social norms.

It is time to reimagine singlehood not as a lack of marriage, but as a life marked by dignity, autonomy, and choice. Feminist law and policy must shift away from the marriage-centric lens and recognise all women, whether married, unmarried, widowed, or divorced, as full and equal citizens. The lives and rights of 71 million Indian women must no longer remain invisible.

(The writer is a research associate at the Centre for Law & Policy Research)