Status Single : The trials and triumphs of single women in small-town India

What is it like to be a single woman in India’s small towns and cities that we hear and know little of? Whether single, widowed, separated, or divorced; these women have carved a resilient existence in a society that still has very rigid social norms that place men as the protectors and providers of women.  Uttar Pradesh is home to the largest number of single women in India, around 12 million. Of this group, the majority have never been married and the largest group of single women in rural areas are widows, with a count of 29.2 million. Since the death of her husband, Sharda has been doing her best to put her children through school, working extra hours and