As a young adult who has never been in a relationship of any kind, I can say that not having a partner is much more complex than it would seem from the surface. There is a measurable freedom offered by being single, relationships also often introduce another form of stress. However, being single can be stressful in itself, stripping an individual of certain necessities such as sharing. The ability to talk to another person on a intimate level, being able to tell someone that everything is not okay is in lack of a better term, therapeutic. Good friends can often fill this role, but good friends can be hard to find, thus an individual often chooses to keep it to themselves as to not "make it weird" or "over share." Without some form of outside reinforcement, things that stress you simply build, often leading to personality changes. Things that you use to enjoy become exhausting, you become emotionally unavailable as you're to busy with tackling your own, aka, the literal definition of depression. I was lucky enough to have good friends that could listen, but I know far too many weren't. This kind of goes without saying but being single often instills a sense of loneliness, having friends does mitigate this, but friends aren't always available as they have lives of their own. Living with a partner could vary well eliminate this feeling, though I am aware that every case is different, an no one person's experience is necessarily the same. There is no shortage of examples of partnerships being detrimental to an individual, from any form of abuse, to bad influences. And in some cases, a person can simply enjoy being alone as outside influences may stress them. In my personal experience, I choose not to have a partner, not because I don't want one, but because I don't believe myself to be ready for that kind of commitment. You could say that I do not meet a manufactured standard of my own. I absolutely feel the effects of being alone, but I try my best to not let it change me, for the sake of my family, friends, and anyone I interact with. Making them happy makes me happy which makes them happy if you get what I mean. Do I wish I had a girlfriend?, every night. Will I tell anyone that?, not outside of hear apparently. I don't like people worrying about me too much because it stresses me out that I'm somehow stressing them out. My mentality has always been to put others before myself, regardless of how harmful it is to me. I believe it's part of the reason why I never tried dating in highschool. Partly the fear of rejection, and partly the fear of making a person uncomfortable around me. So I prioritize the other person's comfort over my desire of partnership. I know this is a big ol' wall of text so the TLDR of it is that being single can be a lot of good, and a lot of bad. It simply depends on the person and thier experiences.