In our twenties, an independent lifestyle seems liberating. In our thirties, making new friends becomes trickier: everyones busy with work/family/relationships. At the end of life, about one in three people live alone in Scotland. Depressing, eh? With sinking marriage and high divorce rates, with serial monogamy and fixed-term contracts that make long-term planning hard, the outlooks not getting better " unless we find new ways of living together. Anna Schneider (Administrative Data Research Centre Scotland, Edinburgh Napier University) argues that adopting a litter of cats to keep us company is not the solution.
