The JCWI said Amber and her husband Diego were sharing a single bed in a cramped home in Santiago, where they were unable to find jobs and there was no welfare system.

BBC: Policy 'makes marriage miserable'

But (and here we should assume that she already had her eye on who she would prefer to be married to, being a propertyless single woman was not a viable option in the England of the time) her intended second husband would have some property of his own.

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As a single professional woman, the social norm that a husband should be the primary breadwinner for a family presents some real concerns.

FORBES: Breadwinner Social Norms Could Affect Dating for Women

By 1977 Chua and her husband had separated, and she found herself a single mother raising two young sons.

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The story is based on a single incident related to MacDonald about William Killick, Vera's husband, shooting a gun through the window of the Thomas's home.

BBC: Keira stars in her mother's film

When her heroine walks down the famous East End street one step behind her husband, she sets the novel's tone in a single scene.

ECONOMIST: The capital as inspiration for novelists

Long story short, he and the Wovel only made it through a single line of snow down the driveway before a car came down the road and my husband literally ran into the garage with it to avoid being seen.

FORBES: Learn to Trust People with Firsthand Experience

Dawes's husband Damian, who is self-employed, admits the pressures of raising a large family on a single income can be stressful.

BBC: Sarah Dawes and her children

But in a central neighborhood where luxury apartments stand next to 1920s-era lane houses, Ms. Niu and her husband are crammed under the stairs of an old home in a windowless room that fits little besides their single bed and electric hot plate.

WSJ: In Shanghai, High Prices Keep Lid on Real-Estate Stimulus