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Nearly twice as many young men as women are likely to be single by 2022, with experts blaming the rise on the end of traditional male roles, pornography and the pandemic.
A Pew Research Center survey of more than 6,000 Americans found that 30 percent of the population identified as single.
But when broken down by age group and gender, that number rose to 63 percent among men ages 18 to 29, a whopping 12 percent increase from 2019.
By comparison, just 34 percent of women in that age group said they were single in 2022, a small 2 percent increase from the pre-pandemic era.
Experts attribute the disparity to some women who date each other, with research suggesting that bisexual women make up a large part of the young adult queer community, as well as many who also date older men.
Meanwhile, according to the latest report from the US Census Bureau, the average age a man gets married is now 30, a notable increase from just under 24 in 1950, while the average age when a woman gets married is now 28.
About 63% of men ages 18-29 reported being single in 2022, an increase of 12% from 2019. Meanwhile, only 34% of women in the same age group reported being single, a small 2% increase
A 2022 Pew survey exposed disparities between men and women who reported being single
The survey also found that while the average American adult was looking for dates and a relationship less frequently after the pandemic, women represented the least interested group.
According to the data, 49% of adults were looking for a committed romantic relationship or casual dating in 2019, but that number dropped to 42% in 2022.
Men, specifically, made up 61 percent of those looking for love in 2019, and by 2022, only half of men were looking for relationships.
Women, however, only made up 38 percent of the 2019 figure, and in 2022, just 35 percent of women reported looking to date or commit to a relationship.
Experts who weighed in on the rise in loneliness among young men said the trend comes amid changes in gender roles in the United States since the cultural revolutions of the 1950s and 1960s.
Instead of focusing on being homemakers, women are continuing to build their careers to close the income gap, said Los Angeles family psychologist Greg Matos.
While on average men continue to earn more than women in the workplace, women under 30 have closed the gap and actually earn more than their male counterparts in 22 different areas.
Matos, who wrote a viral article about dwindling opportunities for young men to find dates, said the latest wave of empowered women are not only seeking better pay, but also weeding out men who don’t meet their standards, which it often leaves them lower. win young in the cold.
‘Women don’t need to be in long-term relationships. They don’t need to be married,’ Matos said. The hill. They’d rather go to lunch with friends than have a horrible date.
While more Americans overall are marrying later in life, men are now, on average, marrying in their 30s, according to the US Census.
Psychologists Greg Matos (left) and Fredric Rabinowitz (right), writing on the subject of masculinity, said that women do not find ideal matches in young men and suggested that things were only made worse by isolation and internet blackouts. pandemic.
Fred Rabinowitz, a University of Redlands professor who studies masculinity, added that the pandemic is likely to blame for the growing disparity between the number of men and women seeking serious partners.
According to the Pew survey, only 25 percent of men surveyed said they were exclusively looking for a committed romantic relationship, while 41 percent of women reported wanting the same thing.
By comparison, 19 percent of men said they were only looking for casual dates, and just 15 percent of women said they were looking for casual relationships.
“You have to think that the pandemic had an impact on some of those numbers,” Rabinowitz told The Hill, suggesting that men had become used to the social isolation created by pandemic lockdowns.
‘[Young men] they watch a lot of social media, they watch a lot of pornography, and I think they get a lot of their needs met without actually going outside.
“I think that’s starting to become a habit,” he warned.
Ronald Levant, a University of Akron psychology professor who has written extensively on masculinity, suggested that the trend of lonelier young men ultimately stems from women being more exclusive with whom they date.
While the older generation of women typically relied on their husbands to make ends meet, Levant said that mentality is gone, adding that women no longer want to lean into the stereotypical role of only supporting their husbands’ needs while ignoring their own. .
“In America today, women expect more from men,” Levant told The Hill, “and unfortunately, many men don’t have more to give.”
The proportion of American men who say they have at least six close friends has halved since 1990, from 55% to 27%.
Across both genders, Americans report having fewer close friends in 2021 than in the same survey in 1990, but women still did better than their male counterparts.
The Pew Research Center findings are matched by a 2021 Gallup poll, which found that American men are experiencing a friendship recession, with nearly one in six not having a close friend.
The proportion who say they have at least six close friends has halved since 1990, from 55 to 27 percent, while the number who have none has increased fivefold, from 3 to 15 percent.
Singles fare worse, with one in five reporting they have no close friends. Unsurprisingly, a lack of companionship has psychological impacts, with more than half of people with three or fewer close friends saying they felt lonely in the last week.
The survey also suggests that men find it more difficult than women to develop strong emotional bonds with their existing friends.