The trend of less education means less marriage is interesting. I think that tells me the root cause is that 25% of 40 year olds are not financially attractive mates. I think this speaks to a broader trend of men not being able to meet the traditional expectations of the breadwinner in an increasingly precarious economy.
A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married
121–130 of 226 posts
Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
(I assume you mean the worker bees) You think it's intentional of the neoliberal beehive? First driving women into the workforce doubling profits and then turn people into worker bees without any future. Perhaps the suicide rates once they grow old and retire into poverty will also have some economic benefit. Of course it's swarm intelligence, hard to understand the logic of some bee or ant in a colony, it won't be a…
Like many…odd aspects of current society, it’s hard to tell what’s intentional. In this case, the Medical Assistance In Dying (MAID) movement seems to suddenly be making significant progress after stalling since the 90s - just in time for culling expensive Boomers [1] (and, also in Canada, mentally ill homeless and teens). As mentioned in the link, assisted suicide is being pushed by providers (at least to some degre…
Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married
#123Mostly just economics, is my wager. In a classic agrarian economy, having a spouse and making children works out -- more children = more hands = more work done = more food or more product to market. In a modern "pure" capitalist industrial/service economy, the economic model doesn't pay for the cost of the reproduction of the labour it depends on. So not a surprise when people do the same cost-benefit analysis for th…
It really is this. But its stopped being a Western specific problem decades ago. This is a major world issue that is changing the status quo of goepolitics. Some major players on the world stage will be shells of their former selves very, very quickly.
Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
Its not the initiator I am talking about, its the person getting hit on. Imagine having to deal with that all the time. I liken it to telemarketers. I get 4 a day sometimes, eventually I just tell them to F off in my moment of weakness because I am trying to just have focus time. Eventually the person being hit on every day will hit a breaking point and be rude, then she is labeled a bitch by that person and every ti…
This is almost entirely in your head. Just to be clear, I'm not saying to interrupt someone mid-run or talk to someone focused with ear-buds in. If someone is leaving the gym, you can say 'hey got a sec?', If they answer 'no', that is their answer. (Also, people who put makeup and tight pants on for the gym, are looking to be hit on. The people trying to be ignored, will put 0 effort into their appearance and will ha…
Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married
#125There are a variety of reasons this is happening. Most of which are political suicide to bring up. Se lets all enjoy the descent into a 3rd world state. If you wanna actually find yourself in a relationship, do what I did and travel to other countries. Contrary to the mainstream narrative perpetuated by american propaganda, most women outside america aren't "poor and uneducated and looking for a passport."
Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married
#126The chart is just another "wtf happened in 1971" moment. https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/ What happened in 1971? The Nixon Shock, which is when the dollar stopped being convertible to gold after it became evident that the US did not have the gold it claimed to have.
Whoa, you mean if only we were still on the gold standard, then I'd be worthy of love? #Im14&AustrianEconomicsIsDeep
It means that the Bretton Woods economic system was very favorable for Americans while it lasted. And the middle class could afford a house, a car, have multiple kids, send those kids to college, and have the living standard referred to as "the American dream".
You could even get a job without a college degree, marry in your 20s and sustain a household on one job.
Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married
#127I think a lot of men are starting to do the cost benefit analysis of marriage. If everything goes well you can buy a lovely house in the suburbs, raise 2.5 kids, grow old together with your wife and live happily ever after. If it goes wrong she takes your kids and half your assets immediately, followed by several years of child support and possibly alimony.
My personal pet theory is that it's biological in nature and likely related to the spreading obesity. But necessarily causal, but potentially correlated by the diet or similar.
Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married
#128There are a variety of reasons this is happening. Most of which are political suicide to bring up. Se lets all enjoy the descent into a 3rd world state. If you wanna actually find yourself in a relationship, do what I did and travel to other countries. Contrary to the mainstream narrative perpetuated by american propaganda, most women outside america aren't "poor and uneducated and looking for a passport."
Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think it's purely economic. I think birth control plus legalized abortion changed relationships, and those happened at roughly the same time. (Roe v. Wade was 1972, IIRC.) The decline of religion also probably plays a role here. You'd have a hard time blaming that on the end of the gold standard. I mean, sure, economics almost certainly plays a role. But it's not the sole cause.
Feminism in general (with birth control and abortion) changed things quite a bit if we consider it including the rise of women in the workforce. Look at the chart of labor participation. I believe its changes at the time mostly reflect women starting to get jobs. Although, people could maybe speculate that dual income families also became a necessity as a result of worsening economic conditions. I don't know. (And fo…
The industrial and agricultural revolutions have only recently allowed most of us to live in cities and do other work than trying to grow enough food to survive. And so new ways of living are arising that work for people in the new era.
We are probably going to see a lot more variety in living arrangements before things settle into a new normal. I wish I could be around for the next couple hundred years to see it all happen!
Re: A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or alternatively, economic conditions are so much better than before that those who would marry for that no longer need to.
How are economic conditions better now than they were a decade or two ago?
2013 was still suffering from the after effects of the great recession that caused massive unemployment and a incredible increase in suffering.
How are current economic conditions worse than two of the greatest crashes in US history? YoY inflation is drastically slowing and unemployment is at record lows.
The economy is doing pretty goddamn amazingly right now