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The problem in a declining population (low fertility, fewer young people) is that there are more older people per age range than younger people. Now because of
by cubefox 3y ago
The problem in a declining population (low fertility, fewer young people) is that there are more older people per age range than younger people. Now because of biologically caused preferences, "age gap" preferences usually means an older man and a younger woman. Which means that some proportion of young men and old women will no longer find partners. It's especially a problem for young men, since older women usually can find partners when they are still young. And of course the severity of the problem depends on the country's fertility rate. South Korea or China a terrible places to be a young man.
The reverse problem of fertility vs sex difference in age preference exists in some African countries, where the fertility rate is very high. Which means there are more young people, which means some fraction of young women will not find a partner.
The whole problem wouldn't exist if people preferred (or society strongly encouraged) partners of their own age. Unfortunately puff pieces like the one above only focus on advertising empathy for the individual cases but ignore the societal problems they cause.
Another such example is polygamy, which mostly results in polygyny because of biological preferences. Which means many men (including older men this time) can no longer find a partner.
- HarHarVeryFunny 3y ago20% or so of adults never get married, so it's hard to imagine that a few age-gap marriages are having any effect on the size of the dating pool.
- cubefox 3y agoIt's not just "a few". Small to medium sized age gaps are the norm. Most men prefer women of the same to younger age, most women prefer men or the same to older age. In societies with changing fertility, this leads to dating pools being of non-matching size.
- Supermancho 3y agoHistorically, it has never been uncommon for older men to marry (<20yr) age gap women. Browsing the marriage records (ie ancestry.com) reveals just how common.
- cubefox 3y agoYeah. In a growing population this meant that many young women couldn't find partners.
- stouset 3y ago> Another such example is polygamy, which mostly results in polygyny because of biological preferences. I have about 10yr of exposure to friend groups with nonmonogamous lifestyles, and it’s by a long shot the women who are having multiple regular partners and the men who have an occasional fling. And I find just as many women as men choose to adopt that kind of lifestyle. Obviously there are exceptions, but this has been an extremely stable general trend I’ve observed. This is of course caveated by having a small sample size. That said I think the trope that women only want one sexual partner while men want many is—in my experience—nothing more than that: an outdated, overused trope. I’d love to see some actual numbers. But what numbers I have seen seem to be easily skewed by the reality that it’s more socially acceptable for men to have more partners (though that stigma is quickly changing).
- cubefox 3y agoPolygyny is much, much more common than polyandry. > Of the 1,231 societies listed in the 1980 Ethnographic Atlas, 186 were found to be monogamous; 453 had occasional polygyny; 588 had more frequent polygyny; and 4 had polyandry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny#Findings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny#Findings
- guil177 3y agoI'm not sure historical societies has so much relevance here. I think the real difference with the past is contraceptive.
- stouset 3y agoOf course it has been that way historically, because men have been disproportionately favored by the power structures in those societies. Not to mention the lack of available and effective contraceptives before recent times. Remove that power imbalance, as we’re getting closer to today, and you see a lot more women choosing multiple partners.
- cubefox 3y agoIf it is the same in so many cultures, it seems quite likely the difference is not cultural, but biological.
- TerrifiedMouse 3y ago> The reverse problem of fertility vs sex difference in age preference exists in some African countries, where the fertility rate is very high. Which means there are more young people, which means some fraction of young women will not find a partner. Maybe I’m dumb. I don’t understand how young women will have trouble finding a partner.
- shiroiuma 3y agoIt makes little sense. Naturally, there are about 1.07 males born for every 1 female, so there's usually an excess of young men. The OP's statement only makes sense if the young women all insist on finding older, monogamous partners.
- cubefox 3y agoWomen prefer men of a similar to older age, men prefer women of a similar to younger age. In countries with high fertility, the latter pool is larger than the former. And even when women lower their standards in response, this doesn't solve the problem, as it doesn't cause men to lower their standards. It's the exact reverse in low fertility countries.
- TerrifiedMouse 3y agoI still don’t get it. The fact that women prefer men of similar age or older … there are plenty of young men of similar age for young women, in fact it’s nearly one to one, then you add in the older men. For young women their suitors outnumber them. Seems to be young men and elder women will always have a shortage of suitors no matter the population ratio between young and older people. It’s just that the shortage worsens for young men if the ratio leans towards more older people and the shortage worsens for older women when the ratio leans towards more young people.
- cubefox 3y agoWe are speaking of a society with more younger than older people. For example, there are fewer people aged 30 to 40 than there are people aged 20 to 30. 30 year old men have therefore more choice than 30 year old women.