Being single: you either love it or you hate it. For some people, being single is the best thing ever - you have zero responsibilities and can enjoy being in the company of yourself and your friends. For others, the idea of being single is frightening and they would much rather be in a relationship with someone than be alone. But while women may stereotypically be stamped as more "clingy" and wanting to settle down quicker than men, it turns out this archaic labeling couldn't be further from the truth. According to new research, there are plenty of strong, independent women out there who are happier being single than in a relationship, because to paraphrase, they are sick of men's bulls**t. While that's the simple truth of it, the more detailed reason behind women's enjoyment of independence is that they are sick of the amount of work that a relationship requires from them, rather than their male counterparts. Consumer analysts Mintel carried out the research, which found that 61 per cent of women were happy to be single, compared to 49 per cent of single men. Sometimes it can seem like the majority of the world's single population uses Tinder, but it turns out that 75 per cent of single women have not actively been seeking a relationship in the last year, while 65 per cent of men have also not bothered searching for love - suggesting that plenty of people from both sexes are happy to be on their own. Speaking to the Telegraph, Professor Emily Grundy said that she reckons the results are reflective of the emotional labour that women endure when they enter a relationship with a man. "There’s evidence that women spend longer on domestic tasks than men and I think they also do more emotional work – so they still do more housework and cooking and things as well as more emotional labour," she explains. According to the Grundy, emotional labour may appear small but it can be incredibly draining on women. Things like having to get prepared and look fancy for date nights, through to having to constantly iron shirts can end up wearing women out. However, there is also another key factor in the rising number of single women: it is now acceptable for women to be independent. While women used to be expected to marry and have children at a young age, there has now been a shift towards how women are "meant" to behave in society - with their being much more of a focus on being independent and strong. Things like getting married and having children are no longer the end goal for women, they are now focused on having fulfilling careers, finding happiness and enjoying their life with or without a relationship. Grundy also suggests that women are happier being single as they tend to be better at socialising with others and making connections with friends. "Women tend to be better at having alternative social networks and other confidantes whereas men tend to rely quite heavily on their wives for that and have fewer other social ties," she says. "Certainly there’s a common finding from a lot of studies that women who don’t have a partner tend to do more social activities and more friends compared to women with partners whereas with men it’s the reverse – men without a partner tend to do much less of that. "So it may be that women have a wider range of alternatives." Basically, while men are keen to find a partner that they can rely on and confide in, women know that they don't need a man to perform that role for them. The pressures on women entering a relationship with a man are loosening and that can only be seen as a positive thing.

Almost every single movie and fairytale out there tells us that searching for your true love is all there is to life. And with your grandma asking you every damn Christmas why you don't have "that lovely Martin fellow from your high school" with you again this year, it's hard not to believe that you shouldn't be putting all your life's efforts into courting an appropriate mate. But alas, that's just what society tells us. In fact, various counts of research show that single women are actually way happier than what people think they are. While the ladies from accounts payable might look across the room at the work Christmas party and titter "oh, poor Suzy, she's come alone again this year", little do they know that Suzy is actually having the time of her life right now and may be well better off than they are. Here's why. For one, a consumer market research report conducted in the UK this year found that being in a relationship as a heterosexual woman is actually quite laborious as – despite all the progress we've done for equal rights and all that – women are still found to be subject to more emotional labour and domestic labour in relationships than their male counterparts. Being single, therefore, gives them a sense of more freedom. The same study found that women are better than men at maintaining different circles of friends and social networks, meaning that even if they're single, women can still enjoy healthy friendships and a positive support network to rely on and to satisfy social needs. Being lonely when you're single – says WHO? What's more is that being single can actually make individuals more independent, more self-determined and less likely to make their relationship their main source of happiness. Single women become more confident in doing things alone and strive to keep growing and learning, according to Harvard psychologist Dr Bella DePaulo. She says people often neglect to think about the "creative, intellectual, and emotional potential of solitude". "Missing from the stacks of journal articles is any sustained attention to the risks of intensive coupling," she writes, "or to the resilience offered by the networks of friends and family that so many single people maintain." And while it's not suggested that people in healthy and loving relationships are miserable sods in comparison to these free-spirited and self-confident singletons, Dr DePaulo argues that it's not the relationship that makes a person happy, but the state of the individual themselves. "If you are not already a happy person, don’t count on marriage to transform you into one. If you are already happy, don’t expect marriage to make you even happier…finally, if you are single and happy, do not fret that you will descend into despair if you dare to stay single. That’s not likely either." But it shouldn't take all these theories and studies to say that people who are single aren't necessarily unhappy. It's just the way society has taught us to think, and now, it's time to break that stigma. Stick it to your grandma – so what if you never bring a date to Christmas lunch ever again?

It's quite disgusting to think that it is only within the last 100 years of human history that women have been able to be treated as equals within society. Just a few short decades ago, women were expected to stay at home, have some kids, and have dinner on the table for when her husband got back from work.

Now, (for the most part) women are treated equally, with more women in management positions than ever before, according to Inc.com. And it's not just business where a 'women's revolution' is occurring - we're seeing the empowerment of women in sport, film and television, and in the home.

(And of course, this is only in the western world - there are still many places on the planet where women are treated as second-class citizens.)

Gone are the days when women were expected to take a husband and become baby-making machines. In fact, according to a professional "happiness expert", that's the last thing women need to make them happy.

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Speaking at the Hay Festival  - a film a culture festival held in Wales - on Saturday, Paul Dolan, a professor of behavioural science at the London School of Economics, said the latest evidence showed that the traditional markers used to measure success did not correlate with happiness:

"Married people are happier than other population sub-groups but only when their spouse is in the room when they’re asked how happy they are. When the spouse is not present: fucking miserable.

"We do have some good longitudinal data following the same people over time, but I am going to do a massive disservice to that science and just say: if you’re a man, you should probably get married; if you’re a woman, don’t bother."

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Whereas men actually benefit from marriage, according to Dolan, as it causes them to "calm down":

"You [men] take less risks, you earn more money at work, and you live a little longer. She, on the other hand, has to put up with that and dies sooner than if she never married. The healthiest and happiest population sub-group are women who never married or had children."

Dolan’s findings are featured in his latest book, Happy Ever After, and he cites evidence from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS). This information compared levels of pleasure and misery in unmarried, married, divorced, separated, and widowed individuals.

This woman has set up 'naked yoga classes' to help women feel more empowered:

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The study found that the levels of happiness reported by those who were married was actually higher than the unmarried - but only when their spouse was in the room.

Whereas, when married individuals were asked when their spouse was not present, they reported higher levels of misery than unmarried individuals.

This certainly tells you a lot about marriage...

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Dolan also spoke about the health benefits marriage can have on both men and women, and revealed how middle-aged married women are at a higher risk of physical and mental conditions than their single counterparts. Whereas men actually benefit, as they take "less risks", the Guardian reports.

However, despite the benefits of being a single and childless woman, Dolan stated that the stigma society places on these women - what with the social expectations to settle down and have kids - can actually lead to some single women feeling unhappy. Dolan said:

"You see a single woman of 40, who has never had children – ‘bless, that’s a shame isn’t it, maybe one day you’ll meet the right guy and that’ll change’. No, maybe she’ll meet the wrong guy and that’ll change. Maybe she’ll meet a guy who makes her less happy and healthy, and die sooner."

But that's society's problem - not yours, ladies.

The key to a happy and healthy relationship has always remained a baffling enigma to humans. And although we all know the tried and tested basics by now - mutual respect, hard work, sharing a giggle, giving them the last Rolo - a lot of us just can't seem to get it right. Right on cue, after yet another cataclysmic break-up, we're back where we started, sipping wine with our friends and cursing the fact that, not only are we single again, we also don't have the writing chops to pen a Taylor Swift-esque quintuple platinum break-up song. But as it turns out, the majority of us may have been placing our eggs in the wrong basket ever since entering the brutish battleground of romance. A fascinating 2017 study claims to have found that those of us in open relationships are happier than those in monogamous ones. Could it be true? Could an open relationship be the key ingredient we're missing? Some experts certainly think so. The study at the University of Michigan analysed more than 2,100 people in order to determine if there were significantly different outcomes between the two styles of love affair. Asking around 1,500 individuals in monogamous relationships and 600 participants in committed non-monogamous relationships to rate relationship components including satisfaction, commitment, trust, jealousy and passionate love, ultimately the research found no difference between the two in terms of satisfaction and passionate love. However, with jealousy and trust, there were notable results that led them to believe happiness was inflated when both partners agreed to allow their mate to have sexual relations with others; reactions showed that jealousy was lower and trust was higher. So, instead of monogamous, should we all become "monogamish"? From the perspective of someone who has always tied themselves to one partner, it seems a bit of a rogue move. But, then again, they do say you should do things that scare you - especially if there's a chance it could make you happier. VT spoke to Alex, who is currently in an open relationship, to see if she agreed with the new theory. She told us: "I don't know if I'm necessarily happier than other people, but in open relationships I've had, I've always felt that my partner and I had a lot more trust and honesty with one another than people who were part of an exclusive couple. I can't speak for others, of course, but I think we're definitely more easy-going when it comes to issues like cheating or liking other people." She continued: "I think it's definitely something that couples should feel open to discussing, but I also know that it's not for everybody. I guess there are various factors that come into play - age, sexuality, whether or not the couple has children - and nobody should ever feel pressured into trying it." You or I may question the reliability of the study. For example, what happens when the green-headed monster comes knocking? It can't be denied that open relationships aren't for everyone and if you hate the thought of your partner canoodling with others, chances are you'll never be into it. Yet, similarly to monogamous relationships, there are often certain guidelines in open relationships that need to be followed in order to keep both parties completely happy. Alex stressed the idea that, for her and a lot of other people currently in open relationships, other partners are purely for fun and nothing else - and if the extra partner becomes anything more, everything could be thrown off balance. "Previously I had struggled a bit with a polyamorous relationship, as the person I was with spent a lot of their time with somebody else," she admitted. "But an open relationship is different - we have each other, but we also have the option to just have fun and not worry about hurting anyone." When it comes to this type of relationship, there can be a lot of judgement. Open relationships are often plagued by assumptions that the people in them are being "greedy," that they are justifying cheating or that the partners don't care about each other enough to be happy in their primary relationship. However, the University of Michigan research team found that individuals actually had more satisfaction, trust, commitment and passionate love in their primary mate than their secondary relationship, whereas people in open relationships were significantly less satisfied and less committedto their relationship. So there you have it. The experts have spoken. Obviously open relationships won't make everyone happier, but it seems that the people they do work for make a tremendous success out of them. We only had one more question for Alex: People change their minds all the time, did she ever see a point where being in an open relationship didn't work for her? She responded: "That's a good question and one that my partner and I had to think about before agreeing to have an open relationship. I think there's definitely a chance it won't work in the future, as the nature of relationships change all the time. But I don't see that as a problem. We made the decision that we would only have an open relationship if both of us wanted it, and that we'd go back to being exclusive if it began to get difficult for either of us at any point." Her words are enlightening. At the end of the day, in relationships, you need to do what's good for you at that particular time. And if what's good for you changes over time, then it's time to reassess what it is that's going to make you happy. So, in the aftermath of the study, are people going to be sitting down to reassess their romances? I wouldn't count on it. But reports do show that the subject is never far from certain people's minds. Apparently, studies show that nearly 50 per cent of all Americans would consider being in an open relationship. And, if they think it would work for them, perhaps they should go for it - I hear it makes you pretty happy.

Hopefully, everyone reading this right now has experienced at least one happy relationship in their life. It might have been a short fling, or it could be a long-term deal that you're still very content with today. Either way, you'll know what it's like to get totally caught up with someone else.

But, for all the good times you spend with that person, there's always one niggling side effect that you wish you could have avoided. You see, after all those dinner dates, the cozy Saturday nights spent with a takeaway pizza, and the lovingly-gifted boxes of chocolate, the relationship might have grown substantially - but so did your waistline.

And, while it's been easy to blame someone else for us getting fat all this time, scientists have finally confirmed that - actually - weight-gain in a relationship is a totally legitimate thing.

A new study conducted by the University of Queensland in Australia collected a decade's worth of data from more than 15,000 people and analyzed the amount of weight that individuals gained (or didn't) while being in a happy relationship.

What they discovered was that people who were part of a couple weighed, on average, 13 pounds more than their single counterparts, and gained an average of four pounds each year.

There are a number of speculative reasons for this difference, but the obvious ones would be the aforementioned indulgent lifestyle people often engage in when they're dating someone and, of course, the fact that folks don't tend to worry about their figure so much if they know that their partner would be happy with them even if they did gain a little weight here and there.

However, it's not all bad news for the loved-up couples out there.

The extensive study also discovered that, compared to single people, those in relationships tended to have generally healthier habits overall. They smoked less often, consumed less fast food, and were more likely to eat fruits and vegetables on a regular basis.

Plus, it's been proven before that happiness is linked to better health and a longer lifespan. Of course, this isn't to say that you can't be single and happy - of course you can - it just shows that those in relationships often have a better support system in place for when something bad does go down.

It also happens that happiness is also linked to body mass.

"Satisfaction is positively associated with weight gain," said Andrea Meltzer, the head researcher of a similar survey conducted by the Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "Spouses who are more satisfied tend to gain more weight, and spouses who are less satisfied tend to gain less weight."

So, if you have put on a little extra while being with your significant other, don't worry - it's just a sign that you're comfortable together. And, if you're currently single and feeling sorry for yourself, just remember that at least you have this as a one-up on all those loved-up couples

One reason more and more women are remaining single by choice has been revealed - and it's all to do with 'mankeeping'.

Dating and relationships can be hard work at the best of times - from finding someone on the same wavelength as you to begin with, to making sure that relationship lasts over time, there's many ways infatuation can go wrong really fast.

But, according to new research, an increasing number of women are refraining from dating and relationships altogether as they don't want to get bogged down with mankeeping.

So, what is mankeeping?

Well, according to researchers from Stanford, it is the emotional labor women take on in many heterosexual relationships, where they carry the emotional burden for men, rather than the friends in their partners' lives.

The research found that in the past 30 years, male social circles have shrunk more significantly than women's, leaving men to unload their emotional burdens on their partner whereas once they could have turned to their male friends.

This emotional dependence on their partner can place excessive strain on women as they take on the full weight of emotional support for their partner.

Angelica Ferrara, lead author of the paper and postdoctoral scholar at the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University, claims their recent research shows that some women spend several hours a week helping the men in their lives manage their emotional and social well-being.

Mankeeping refers to the unseen emotional work that women invest into their male relationships, such as with their partners, family members, friends, and even colleagues.

They broke it down into three areas - emotional support, building social networks, and teaching social skills.

The research noted that women often become the emotional support systems for the men in their lives, as they are the ones there to check in with them and listen, whereas in past decades, men would have a more solid circle of friends to take some of this burden.

Women also largely take on the responsibility of being social coordinators to ensure that the men in their lives continue to maintain their friendships, often by instigating catch ups and meetings.

They also often teach the men in their lives the interpersonal skills necessary to keep connections alive, including by asking thoughtful questions and teaching their men how to listen to one another.

Mankeeping can thus add a lot of extra emotional baggage to a woman's life, which has led to many young women checking out of the system completely by avoiding dating.

Another study from the Pew Research Center showed that women are now 23% less likely to want to date than men - not because they don't want a relationship, bit because they feel like they have invested too much emotional labor into former relationships without getting the same effort and support in return from their male partners.

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