This Slate article sums up the argument nicely and also points out that 31 million people live alone:

On average, women may be better suited to solitary habitation than men, at least past a certain age. It’s not, however, because men don’t love to eat Cheerios for dinner and hog the bed. Nor is it that women are more self-sufficient or inclined to solitude. On the contrary: Women are more likely to have strong social networks, which enable them to live alone without being alone. Men are more at risk of withdrawing into isolation that, at the extremes, can be miserable and indeed dangerous.

I think the points about women being better at being socially connected or making social connections with others are valid. Part of the reason I thrive (and often procrastinate well) in solitude is because I stay in touch with a lot of other people virtually. My heart went out to the elderly men/shut-ins in the article, though. I worry deeply about men in our culture, a topic I’m going to write more about soon. I feel like they get so many conflicting messages about what manhood should look like that when they grow older and maybe lose the loves of their lives or lose faith, life can get really alienating and bleak rather quickly.