ABSTRACT
The family is a basic unit of society and if ideological representations and state practices reinforce the rhetoric around the family, not only may women and children be oppresses inside families but also those excluded from families may be oppresses outside of families because of the very exclusion. The singleness of women cannot simply be explains in terms of societal patterns affecting women in similar ways. The public sphere is seen as the primary location of men and the private sphere as the primary location of women. The main entry to the public sphere is through paid work. They make efforts not to be marginalizes, as social relationships at work are important to them. The lives of many of the single women are active and demanding, they welcomed being alone. Social networks of single women typically consist of relatives and friends. The position of single mothers is both similar and different to that of single women with no children.
