4 ms·

Is this a problem that needs to be solved, though? I see a dichotomy here. On one hand, we would like to have more women in the "educated" and therefore, high-

Is this a problem that needs to be solved, though? I see a dichotomy here. On one hand, we would like to have more women in the "educated" and therefore, high-income workforce. This, in turn, causes imbalance in the dating market and may force the women in the high-income bracket to make a concession(by lowering their standards, etc). On the other, we can go back to the model where men dominate the high-income workforce and many women can "marry up" when they're younger. I would pick the former than the latter any day. Equality of opportunity trumps the equality of results in my world. Also, beyond a certain point, money just doesn't make the other person more attractive. I would rather date a caring jobless younger woman than an abusive doctor with several degrees. I make enough to pursue my dreams and leisures. Articles like this actually seem very insensitive for the men of my situation(previously poor, now making comfortably but didn't date much in 20s), as it purports that I, as a man in dating market, is worth as much as the amount of money I make. I hope that's not case for most people. Think about it. This is a "crisis" because there aren't high-earning men that these high-earning women would allow themselves to date? It doesn't necessarily trigger schadenfreude to me, if not a profound sadness due to a nature of the "problem". As a single man of early thirties, this sort of article horrifies and saddens me. You need to find your own happiness and maybe it shouldn't depend on other people. Jon Birger's Date-onomics(2015) discusses this phenomenon[1] pretty astutely, if you're interested in reading further data. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Date-onomics-Dating-Became-Lopsided-Numbers/dp/076118208X https://www.amazon.com/Date-onomics-Dating-Became-Lopsided-N...

ghostcluster 9y ago
It's one of the drivers causing all developed countries to have a fertility rate below the replacement rate. Japan's population, which is shrinking, worries about an aging majority without a base of young healthy workers who can support the economy and social programs. They are trying to mend this in the medium term by encouraging more women into the workforce, but, as we see from this article, that may have the unintended consequence of exacerbating the fertility crisis even further.
- MarkMc 9y ago
  That's a problem for Japan, but not rich western countries which can simply accept more immigration.
  - tonyedgecombe 9y ago
    There is nothing simple about accepting more immigration, just look to Brexit for that.
    - ghostcluster 9y ago
      Or Germany. It was just announced today that Merkel was unable to form a majority coalition after the recent election: > Merkel was weakened after a September election as voters angry with her decision in 2015 to open Germany’s borders to more than a million asylum seekers punished her conservatives by voting for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-politics/merkel-fourth-term-in-doubt-as-german-coalition-talks-fail-idUSKBN1DJ0I3 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-politics/merkel-f...
      - InternetOfStuff 9y ago
        > Or Germany. It was just announced today that Merkel was unable to form a majority coalition after the recent election One has nothing to do with the other. The political landscape in Germany is transforming, and has been since long before the refugee crisis. Previously typical majority constellations have gone away (and won't come back, AfD or no), and the parties are struggling to find a place in this new reality. The failure of this round of coalition talks was due to one party not understanding that they need to be more flexible in the new political reality. My personal suspicion is that, should it come to reelections, they would be punished for their stubbornness.
        ghostcluster 9y ago
        I directly quotes Reuters. > Merkel was weakened after a September election as voters angry with her decision in 2015 to open Germany’s borders to more than a million asylum seekers punished her conservatives by voting for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party She had trouble forming a coalition because her party's share was further weakened after the vote, presumably because of 2015 migration crisis and the rise of AfD, requiring a potential partnership with 2 different parties, at different ends of the political spectrum, in addition to Merkel's.
watwut 9y ago
Those things are related. If you are more conservative and sort of feel that male should be primary breadwinner and women should be more of caregiver, then the relative preferences follow logically. It does not need to be expressed political opinion or judgement about other people, it is enough when dude feels bad if he is not competitive at work and she feels like bad mother compared to other mothers. Add to it an 80 hours a week expected working schedule for professionals that makes it impossible to spend much time together and any other choice don't even make sense. For anything else, there needs to be real relationship and time spent together etc. Which is something I don't see these articles talk about at all - they treat marriage/relationship as a technical thing that people just suddenly do without really needing to work on or spend time on.

ghostcluster 9y ago

It's one of the drivers causing all developed countries to have a fertility rate below the replacement rate. Japan's population, which is shrinking, worries about an aging majority without a base of young healthy workers who can support the economy and social programs. They are trying to mend this in the medium term by encouraging more women into the workforce, but, as we see from this article, that may have the unintended consequence of exacerbating the fertility crisis even further.

MarkMc 9y ago
That's a problem for Japan, but not rich western countries which can simply accept more immigration.
- tonyedgecombe 9y ago
  There is nothing simple about accepting more immigration, just look to Brexit for that.
  - ghostcluster 9y ago
    Or Germany. It was just announced today that Merkel was unable to form a majority coalition after the recent election: > Merkel was weakened after a September election as voters angry with her decision in 2015 to open Germany’s borders to more than a million asylum seekers punished her conservatives by voting for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-politics/merkel-fourth-term-in-doubt-as-german-coalition-talks-fail-idUSKBN1DJ0I3 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-politics/merkel-f...
    - InternetOfStuff 9y ago
      > Or Germany. It was just announced today that Merkel was unable to form a majority coalition after the recent election One has nothing to do with the other. The political landscape in Germany is transforming, and has been since long before the refugee crisis. Previously typical majority constellations have gone away (and won't come back, AfD or no), and the parties are struggling to find a place in this new reality. The failure of this round of coalition talks was due to one party not understanding that they need to be more flexible in the new political reality. My personal suspicion is that, should it come to reelections, they would be punished for their stubbornness.
      - ghostcluster 9y ago
        I directly quotes Reuters. > Merkel was weakened after a September election as voters angry with her decision in 2015 to open Germany’s borders to more than a million asylum seekers punished her conservatives by voting for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party She had trouble forming a coalition because her party's share was further weakened after the vote, presumably because of 2015 migration crisis and the rise of AfD, requiring a potential partnership with 2 different parties, at different ends of the political spectrum, in addition to Merkel's.

watwut 9y ago

Those things are related. If you are more conservative and sort of feel that male should be primary breadwinner and women should be more of caregiver, then the relative preferences follow logically. It does not need to be expressed political opinion or judgement about other people, it is enough when dude feels bad if he is not competitive at work and she feels like bad mother compared to other mothers. Add to it an 80 hours a week expected working schedule for professionals that makes it impossible to spend much time together and any other choice don't even make sense. For anything else, there needs to be real relationship and time spent together etc. Which is something I don't see these articles talk about at all - they treat marriage/relationship as a technical thing that people just suddenly do without really needing to work on or spend time on.