From John Ray's shorter notes
|
September 11, 2019
Marriage rates are on the decline because of fewer 'economically-attractive' men as women are focused to choose between remaining single or 'settling' for less successful partners
It is perfectly reasonable and utterly traditional for women to want a competent partner -- and economic competence is part of that. And it is undoubtedly true that modern-day women experience a shortage of economically competent men. They have been complaining bitterly about it for some years now. So how come?
It's all down to feminism. Political feminism is largely anti-man and their destructive aims do have some fulfilment in various ways. And the first way is that women are being pushed into traditionally male jobs. And for every woman who gets such a job a man is pushed out and may never get as good a job again. So the woman can be pleased with her new job but will she be pleased with the reduced availability of appealing partners?
Another way feminism hurts women who want a normal marriage is the feminization of education from grade school on. That feminization tends to push men out of the education system and thus greatly reduces their job prospects. A majority of graduates are now women. So again feminism damages the economic competence of men. Once again feminism has hurt female marrige prospects.
Thirdly, feminist activism has created a minefield of politically correct expectation for men. Normal male reactions to women -- even compliments -- are often deemed unacceptable and may lose the man his job. And in such circumstance it may be very difficult to get a new job. Smart men can navigate the verbal obstacles but average men who could be perfectly competent breadwinners in a more permissive age can easily be thrown on the scrapheap. A considerable range of potential suitable partners will thus not make the cut.
In the circumstances, men can very easily get tired of women from their own ethnicity. I have seen several high quality men go to the Republic of the Philippines for brides. Asian women tend to have very little in the way of feminist hangups so very easily take men off the marriage market and promptly have children. Such relationships are not necessarily a bed of roses but the children keep them going, as they do in many Western families. So women who are less feminist lose out to foreign competition.
And Australia is an interesting example of that. Australia is fortunate in that its largest ethnic minority is East Asian. About 5% of the Australian population is of Han Chinese ancestry plus there are significant numbers from Australia's other Asian neighbours -- Vietnamese in particular. Where I shop in suburban Brisbane, about a third of the faces I see are Asian.
And the Han are mostly from Southern China, who are quite short in stature. So the many young Asian females walking about must feel at times as if they are among a race of giants Even the Caucasian females walking about are often 6' tall, against the S.E. Asian norm of about 5'.
So in their own minds the ladies concerned clearly become quite determined that their children will not be such shrimps. But there is only one way they can have tall children: They have to get themselves a tall husband. But there are very few tall Asian males around. But there is a plentiful supply of tall Caucasian men, including not a few over 6' tall. So those determined little Asian ladies set out to get one of them. And being generally smart they get what they want. If you see a small Asian lady on the arm of a man where I hang out the man will normally be Caucasian, a tall Caucasian. A couple where both are Asian is much rarer. And even then the Chinese man concerned will be a TALL Chinese man. There is no mistaking what is going on
And a major reason why the Chinese ladies snag a Caucasian man so readily is because when the man finds a well presented lady saying nice things to him instead of feminist crap, it is like water on dry ground. How does "I will do anything for you" sound? It sounds very persuasive to any man. So again feminism has taken an eligible man off the market and feminist-inspired women can go whistle.
I gather that similar things happen in parts ofthe USA where there is a substantial Chinese presence, for instance in the universities.
But perhaps the greatest damage that feminism does is the unrealistic expectations it puts on men. Women are taught that they should look for female virtues in men. They will often not find them -- particularly in economically competent men, who will usually be independent-minded. So even if the man is actually economically competent he may well be rejected, producing an ever-shrinking pool of eligibles.
And once a woman has found a man who ticks all her boxes comes the big challenge, getting him to marry her. Thanks to Britain's savage feminist-inspired divorce laws, no well-advised Englishman would ever marry, and many don't. About half of all births in England today are ex-nuptial
Political feminism is the dire enemy of normal marriage-minded women. Many women are feminist but to a much lesser degree than the political feminists -- but it is the politically active feminists who get the attention and dominate the culture
Marriage rates are on the decline due to a lack of 'economically attractive' men with steady jobs for single to women to meet
The study found that married men had incomes that were 58% higher and were 30% more likely to be employed than unmarried men who are still available
Researchers at Cornell University found that women may instead 'settle' for a potential husband or remain unmarried altogether
Black women and other minorities face serious shortages of potential marital partners, as do unmarried women, the study found
Marriage rates are on the decline due to a lack of 'economically attractive' men with steady jobs for single to women to meet, according to a study.
Researchers analysed data on recent marriages between 2007-2012 and 2013-2017 and concluded that there are fewer men with stable jobs and a good income available for unmarried women to match with.
The study from Cornell University examined characteristics of unmarried women's perfect or 'synthetic' spouses which were comparable to real life husbands of married women.
Authors found that so-called 'dream' husbands had an average income that was 58 per cent higher than the average unmarried man.
Women's perfect husbands were also were 30 per cent more likely to be employed and 19 per cent more likely to have a college degree than the average single American man, according to the study titled: 'Do Unmarried Women Face Shortages of Partners in the U.S. Marriage Market?.'
As a result, women may instead 'settle' for a match that falls short of their aspirations in a husband, the study suggests.
Women also may struggle to marry if they are of either a low or high socioeconomic status.
The study also found that women faced serious shortages of potential black or minority marital partners.
The authors also pointed to research which shows that the 'mass incarceration of black men' has depleted the pool of unmarried men in inner-city urban neighborhoods, which has greatly reduced the prospect of marriage for black women.
On average, black men are roughly seven times more likely than white men to be incarcerated.
Race remains a significant demographic dimension of national and local marriage market mismatches, especially as educational and income constraints are amplified within many low-income and segregated minority populations.
It concluded: 'This study reveals large deficits in the supply of potential male spouses. One implication is that the unmarried may remain unmarried or marry less well-suited partners.'
The study reinforced the commonplace view that women in modern society face new marriage trade-offs at a time when finding a suitable match has become more difficult.
Daniel T. Lichter, the study's lead author and researcher with Cornell University, said: 'Most American women hope to marry but current shortages of marriageable men—men with a stable job and a good income—make this increasingly difficult, especially in the current gig economy of unstable low-paying service jobs.
'Marriage is still based on love, but it also is fundamentally an economic transaction. Many young men today have little to bring to the marriage bargain, especially as young women’s educational levels on average now exceed their male suitors.'
Authors found that traditional patterns of mating have shifted, switching from a tendency in 1980 for women to 'marry up' in socioeconomic status to a current trend of 'marrying down.'
It found that women face overall shortages of economically attractive partners with either a bachelor’s degree or incomes of more than $40,000 a year.
They said the findings reiterated previous research finding that mismatches in the marriage market in the form of shortages of economically attractive men may exacerbate uncertainty and heighten disincentives to marriage.
They said this comes at a time of rising education and growing financial independence among American women.
One solution, the study states, is that promoting good jobs may be the best marriage promotion policy rather than marriage education courses that teach new relationship skills.
Women who are highly-educated fare worse due to gender imbalances , as they will either increasingly remain unmarried or they will match with men of a lower social status both in education and financially.
The study noted that the average total income of married men is $70,000 compared with $35,000 for unmarried men. Nearly 40 per cent of married men are college graduates compared with only 25 per cent of unmarried men.
Although the difference is small in absolute terms, the relative difference in employment status is large.
About twice as many unmarried women are unemployed compared to married women.
SOURCE
Go to John Ray's Main academic menu
Go to Menu of longer writings
Go to John Ray's basic home page
Go to John Ray's pictorial Home Page
Go to Selected pictures from John Ray's blogs