Single Working Women’s Day Date in the current year: August 4, 2024

For a long time, a woman’s role in society used to be closely associated with her marital status. Women were supposed to be housewives and mothers while their husbands worked to provide for the family. In the late 19th-century United States, single working women living apart from their families were sometimes referred to as “women adrift”.

As the world changed, the stigma associated with single and/or working women relying on no one but themselves has begun to disappear. Today, a woman does not have to have a husband and be a housewife or a stay-at-home mom to prove her worth. However, single working women still face challenges in the workplace and in society in general because they stand at the intersection of two types of discrimination: sexism and singlism.

The term “singlism” was coined by Bella DePaulo to refer to discrimination against single people. Single workers often have to take up the slack when their married co-workers take time off to attend to family responsibilities. They may be asked to travel more frequently, work longer hours, or pick up last-minute assignments because they have no family to come home to and therefore their personal time is seen as less important by employers.

For single working women, the impact of singlism is exacerbated by the impact of workplace sexism: they are expected to work more and pick up other people’s slack, but are paid less and denied promotions, pay raises, training opportunities, etc.

Single Working Women’s Day was founded in 2006 by Barbara Payne, then a single working woman for more than 25 years, 12 of which she was also a single mom. She came up with the idea on Easter Sunday morning while eating strawberries and drinking champagne with her three single friends. They got to wondering why there were numerous holidays celebrating parents, married couples, lovers, etc., but no holiday recognizing the contributions of single women, as if a woman’s value is measured by her relationship status.

To rectify this, Payne created the Single Working Women’s Affiliate Network (SWWAN) and launched Single Working Women’s Day to encourage single women around the world to celebrate their hard work, courage, resilience, and contribution to society, economy, and local communities. This holiday celebrates women who do it all: bring home the bacon, keep up with chores, find time for their hobbies, and sometimes even raise children – all on their own. It gives them the opportunity to celebrate their achievements and independence.

On August 4, raise a glass to all the single women out there: for ever-single women, for divorcees and widows, for single moms, and for every working woman who happens to not have a partner at the moment or chooses not to have one. If you’re a single working woman, celebrate the holiday by treating yourself to a spa day or a dinner at an upscale restaurant, going out with friends, or giving a shout out to other single working women on social media with the hashtag #SingleWorkingWomensDay.