Are you dead?' Chinese app for single living goes viral

The viral app “Are you dead?” targets people living alone and surged in downloads across China, prompting its creators to introduce a subscription fee and rebrand for a global launch. The app requires a user to name an emergency contact who would be sent an automatic notification if the user does not check in via the app for two consecutive days. China is estimated to have as many as 200 million one-person households.

Class discussion: The 2020 U.S. Census reported that 27.6% American households have just one person living in them. Do you know anyone who lives alone? Why do you think the percentage of single-person households has tripled over the last 80 years? Have marriage rates gone down while divorce rates have gone up? Are more older people outliving their spouses? Has more affluence given children, parents, and grandparents more independence?