- 01 Jan 2024 22:33
#15300339
This is a very interesting study.
Well, some may not find it very interesting but I am sure it is already having a very big impact on the society.
Scarcity of men leads women to prioritize lucrative careers over starting a family, study finds
by Mane Kara-Yakoubian, PsyPost, January 1, 2024
A series of four studies published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology examined the role of sex ratio on women’s family planning and career choices, finding that when men become a rare commodity, women gravitate towards high-paying careers and postpone starting families.
Scarcity of men leads women to prioritize lucrative careers over starting a family, study finds (psypost.org)
The basic idea is that women are having to (or feel like they are having to) focus on developing a career and earning a high income because men are harder to find -- men who can financially provide for their family and who are reliable, specifically.
Looks like there's a similar problem in Australia:
Shortage of eligible men as women struggle in dating game
Fellow demographer Bernard Salt, based on Census data published in March 2012, found it was most competitive for single women of marrying age.
There are 1.3 million single women aged 25-34 living in Australia. In the same age bracket, however, there are only 86,000 single, heterosexual, well-off or "eligible" men earning above $60,000 a year.
Man drought sees shortage of eligible men as women struggle in dating game, The Courier Mail, by Peter Michael, January 19, 2014
Two related threads:
Here's one reason white women are not having kids (posted in Economics, 20 Nov 2023 )
Nearly half of U.S. women under 45 are childless (posted in North America, 2 Sep 2023 )
Due to rising costs (of land in cities, housing, healthcare, and college), it has become harder for one person to be able to provide for a family. That means women have been under pressure to be able to provide money for their future family.
But it's more than that. The family structure has been changing. People in society are less committed to their romantic partners. Much less than they used to be in the early 1960s. Women can't count on a man staying with them, and have to be prepared to provide for themselves.
Remarriage is also much more difficult. With sex becoming much more accessible, it's very difficult for a woman over the age of 35 who has been married in the past with children to find another man who can provide for her and wants to marry her. Why would another man with money want to marry her when it's not difficult for him to get sex from other women, probably women younger than her, requiring no commitment?
Older women are finding that in the dating game, men with more money who are capable of comfortably providing for a family are already taken. It's probably something like an 8 to 1 imbalance, if not worse than that.
I feel something else has to be quickly mentioned -- one of the ingredients in the mix. Among the younger generation, there are a lot of young women who have never been taught anything about commitment. They think it's just normal to sleep around with many males, that it's not a big deal to cheat on the man she is currently with, and see no reason to think otherwise. Obviously this can make her prospects of a stable marriage or even long-term relationship not so good. Men typically do not want to remain financially committed to a woman he knows is likely to have sex with other men.
(I don't mean to start a debate about that in this thread but am just mentioning it as a fact)
This isn't the first study to find something similar to this.
Scarcity of college men leads women to choose briefcase over baby
Science News, April 17, 2012
American women today are more likely to earn college degrees than men with women receiving 57 percent of all bachelor's and 60 percent of all master's degrees. New research has found the ratio of men to women dramatically alters women's choices about career and family.
Research from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and University of Minnesota has found the ratio of men to women dramatically alters women's choices about career and family.
When men are scarce, women delay having children and instead pursue high-paying careers.
"Most women don't realize it, but an important factor in a woman's career choice is how easy or difficult it is to find a husband," said Kristina Durante, assistant professor of marketing at the UTSA College of Business.
"When a woman's dating prospects look bleak -- as is the case when there are few available men -- she is much more likely to delay starting a family and instead seek a career."
In one study, the researchers examined the ratio of single men to single women in each U.S. state and Washington D.C. They found that as bachelors became scarce, the percentage of women in high-paying careers increased, women delayed having children, and had fewer kids when they finally decided to start a family.
In another study on college campuses, the researchers led women to believe that there were either more men or less men on campus by having participants read one of two news article about the student population.
When women read that there were fewer men than women on campus, they became more motivated to pursue ambitious careers rather than start a family.
"A scarcity of men leads women to invest in their careers because they realize it will be difficult to settle down and start a family," said study coauthor Vlad Griskevicius, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. "In fact, the strongest effects were found for women who are least likely to secure a mate."
This research highlights a sexual paradox associated with women's economic and educational advancement. "As women pursue more education and more lucrative careers when they can't find a husband, the ironic effect is that it will only get harder to find a husband as women become more educated and earn higher salaries," said Durante. "This is because a woman's mating standards keep increasing as she becomes more educated and wealthy, which further decreases the number of suitable mates.
another source:
Study finds women prioritize lucrative careers over starting families due to lack of men, Brian Neeley, Business News, January 1, 2024
Another study that showed something so obvious that we don't even need to have a discussion about it:
Women more than men adjust their careers for family life
Pew Research Center, Kim Parker, October 1, 2015
In a 2013 survey, we found that mothers were much more likely than fathers to report experiencing significant career interruptions in order to attend to their families needs. Part of this is due to the fact that gender roles are lagging behind labor force trends. While women represent nearly half of the U.S. workforce, they still devote more time than men on average to housework and child care and fewer hours to paid work, although the gap has narrowed significantly over time. Among working parents of children younger than 18, mothers in 2013 spent an average of 14.2 hours per week on housework, compared with fathers' 8.6 hours. And mothers spent 10.7 hours per week actively engaged in child care, compared with fathers' 7.2 hours.
Another factor is the way that society views the bond between mothers and their children. In a 2012 Pew Research survey, the vast majority of Americans (79%) rejected the notion that women should return to their traditional role in society. Yet when they were asked what is best for young children, very few adults (16%) said that having a mother who works full time is the "ideal situation". Some 42% said that having a mother who works part time is ideal and 33% said what’s best for young children is to have a mother who doesn't work at all. Even among full-time working moms, only about one-in-five (22%) said that having a full-time working mother is ideal for young children.
List of additional threads related to this topic:
Remember, it's the younger generation where babies come from, so if the Millennial generation is financially struggling the birth rates for the society are going to be way down. Those over the age range over 40 do not really have many children. This could have long-term ramifications for the future.
financially struggling younger generation
Younger adult generation shows higher suicide rates amid rising financial pressures
Younger generation packs together with roommates because housing so expensive
Young adult women in late 20s, early 30s are dying at greater rate than before
Certain "milestones", such as driving a car, moving out of one's parents house and renting an apartment, starting a family, or buying a home, are getting delayed among the newest generation of young people, compared with young people in previous generations (born between around 1935 to 1985).
These days it seems that it's too much of a financial stress for many families to buy their child a car or pay for their car insurance. And it's much harder for a 16 year old or young adult to buy a car than it used to be, more expensive.
Having a car used to be associated with "freedom" for teenagers. In most parts of America it's very difficult and very time consuming to be able to get around and go many places without a car.
I believe this may no doubt be part of the reason that numerous surveys show the younger generation is dating less and having less sex than previous generations, despite the level of sexual permissiveness having only increased.
Fewer young people can afford to have a car
Well, some may not find it very interesting but I am sure it is already having a very big impact on the society.
Scarcity of men leads women to prioritize lucrative careers over starting a family, study finds
by Mane Kara-Yakoubian, PsyPost, January 1, 2024
A series of four studies published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology examined the role of sex ratio on women’s family planning and career choices, finding that when men become a rare commodity, women gravitate towards high-paying careers and postpone starting families.
Scarcity of men leads women to prioritize lucrative careers over starting a family, study finds (psypost.org)
The basic idea is that women are having to (or feel like they are having to) focus on developing a career and earning a high income because men are harder to find -- men who can financially provide for their family and who are reliable, specifically.
Looks like there's a similar problem in Australia:
Shortage of eligible men as women struggle in dating game
Fellow demographer Bernard Salt, based on Census data published in March 2012, found it was most competitive for single women of marrying age.
There are 1.3 million single women aged 25-34 living in Australia. In the same age bracket, however, there are only 86,000 single, heterosexual, well-off or "eligible" men earning above $60,000 a year.
Man drought sees shortage of eligible men as women struggle in dating game, The Courier Mail, by Peter Michael, January 19, 2014
Two related threads:
Here's one reason white women are not having kids (posted in Economics, 20 Nov 2023 )
Nearly half of U.S. women under 45 are childless (posted in North America, 2 Sep 2023 )
Due to rising costs (of land in cities, housing, healthcare, and college), it has become harder for one person to be able to provide for a family. That means women have been under pressure to be able to provide money for their future family.
But it's more than that. The family structure has been changing. People in society are less committed to their romantic partners. Much less than they used to be in the early 1960s. Women can't count on a man staying with them, and have to be prepared to provide for themselves.
Remarriage is also much more difficult. With sex becoming much more accessible, it's very difficult for a woman over the age of 35 who has been married in the past with children to find another man who can provide for her and wants to marry her. Why would another man with money want to marry her when it's not difficult for him to get sex from other women, probably women younger than her, requiring no commitment?
Older women are finding that in the dating game, men with more money who are capable of comfortably providing for a family are already taken. It's probably something like an 8 to 1 imbalance, if not worse than that.
I feel something else has to be quickly mentioned -- one of the ingredients in the mix. Among the younger generation, there are a lot of young women who have never been taught anything about commitment. They think it's just normal to sleep around with many males, that it's not a big deal to cheat on the man she is currently with, and see no reason to think otherwise. Obviously this can make her prospects of a stable marriage or even long-term relationship not so good. Men typically do not want to remain financially committed to a woman he knows is likely to have sex with other men.
(I don't mean to start a debate about that in this thread but am just mentioning it as a fact)
This isn't the first study to find something similar to this.
Scarcity of college men leads women to choose briefcase over baby
Science News, April 17, 2012
American women today are more likely to earn college degrees than men with women receiving 57 percent of all bachelor's and 60 percent of all master's degrees. New research has found the ratio of men to women dramatically alters women's choices about career and family.
Research from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and University of Minnesota has found the ratio of men to women dramatically alters women's choices about career and family.
When men are scarce, women delay having children and instead pursue high-paying careers.
"Most women don't realize it, but an important factor in a woman's career choice is how easy or difficult it is to find a husband," said Kristina Durante, assistant professor of marketing at the UTSA College of Business.
"When a woman's dating prospects look bleak -- as is the case when there are few available men -- she is much more likely to delay starting a family and instead seek a career."
In one study, the researchers examined the ratio of single men to single women in each U.S. state and Washington D.C. They found that as bachelors became scarce, the percentage of women in high-paying careers increased, women delayed having children, and had fewer kids when they finally decided to start a family.
In another study on college campuses, the researchers led women to believe that there were either more men or less men on campus by having participants read one of two news article about the student population.
When women read that there were fewer men than women on campus, they became more motivated to pursue ambitious careers rather than start a family.
"A scarcity of men leads women to invest in their careers because they realize it will be difficult to settle down and start a family," said study coauthor Vlad Griskevicius, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. "In fact, the strongest effects were found for women who are least likely to secure a mate."
This research highlights a sexual paradox associated with women's economic and educational advancement. "As women pursue more education and more lucrative careers when they can't find a husband, the ironic effect is that it will only get harder to find a husband as women become more educated and earn higher salaries," said Durante. "This is because a woman's mating standards keep increasing as she becomes more educated and wealthy, which further decreases the number of suitable mates.
another source:
Study finds women prioritize lucrative careers over starting families due to lack of men, Brian Neeley, Business News, January 1, 2024
Another study that showed something so obvious that we don't even need to have a discussion about it:
Women more than men adjust their careers for family life
Pew Research Center, Kim Parker, October 1, 2015
In a 2013 survey, we found that mothers were much more likely than fathers to report experiencing significant career interruptions in order to attend to their families needs. Part of this is due to the fact that gender roles are lagging behind labor force trends. While women represent nearly half of the U.S. workforce, they still devote more time than men on average to housework and child care and fewer hours to paid work, although the gap has narrowed significantly over time. Among working parents of children younger than 18, mothers in 2013 spent an average of 14.2 hours per week on housework, compared with fathers' 8.6 hours. And mothers spent 10.7 hours per week actively engaged in child care, compared with fathers' 7.2 hours.
Another factor is the way that society views the bond between mothers and their children. In a 2012 Pew Research survey, the vast majority of Americans (79%) rejected the notion that women should return to their traditional role in society. Yet when they were asked what is best for young children, very few adults (16%) said that having a mother who works full time is the "ideal situation". Some 42% said that having a mother who works part time is ideal and 33% said what’s best for young children is to have a mother who doesn't work at all. Even among full-time working moms, only about one-in-five (22%) said that having a full-time working mother is ideal for young children.
List of additional threads related to this topic:
Remember, it's the younger generation where babies come from, so if the Millennial generation is financially struggling the birth rates for the society are going to be way down. Those over the age range over 40 do not really have many children. This could have long-term ramifications for the future.
financially struggling younger generation
Younger adult generation shows higher suicide rates amid rising financial pressures
Younger generation packs together with roommates because housing so expensive
Young adult women in late 20s, early 30s are dying at greater rate than before
Certain "milestones", such as driving a car, moving out of one's parents house and renting an apartment, starting a family, or buying a home, are getting delayed among the newest generation of young people, compared with young people in previous generations (born between around 1935 to 1985).
These days it seems that it's too much of a financial stress for many families to buy their child a car or pay for their car insurance. And it's much harder for a 16 year old or young adult to buy a car than it used to be, more expensive.
Having a car used to be associated with "freedom" for teenagers. In most parts of America it's very difficult and very time consuming to be able to get around and go many places without a car.
I believe this may no doubt be part of the reason that numerous surveys show the younger generation is dating less and having less sex than previous generations, despite the level of sexual permissiveness having only increased.
Fewer young people can afford to have a car
- By Rancid
- By Tainari88
- By Rich