The He/She/They Problem

We all feel we must be gender-sensitive these days. No longer can we use the male singular 'he' to represent any hypothetical person.  We must'n't write "if one wants to travel to London, he will find it cheaper to go by coach"; or "when a person parks his car in the wrong place he may expect to pay a fine".

So we find, in a reputable British weekly magazine analysing tax contributions (as paid in the USA), the sentence "In reality, the average person receives far more than they paid in".

The average person isn't 'they' any more than 'he' or 'she'. Those who write a lot often have to get round this problem.  Constant "he or she" or, for that matter, "she or he" is uncomfortable.  One sound solution is to pluralise the subject: and write "Drivers who park their cars in wrong places may expect to be fined"; and "Those who want to travel to London will find it cheaper to go by coach";  or "On average, people receive far more than they pay in".  Mind you, this requires fractionally more thought. But such sentences aren't harder to understand, and don't sound too long-winded.  Or are they or do they ?

The He/She/They Problem