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I enjoyed reading your take on modern dating but I always find takes like this confusing in a "Did men and women stop making babies and I didn't notice?" Sort o

I enjoyed reading your take on modern dating but I always find takes like this confusing in a "Did men and women stop making babies and I didn't notice?" Sort of way. I've attempted to answer this puzzlement myself and PEW research says: "Some age groups have a higher share of singles than others. Adults under 30 are the most likely age group to be single, with roughly half (47%) falling into this category. In contrast, 30- to 49-year-olds are the least likely to be single (21%). About three-in-ten adults ages 50 to 64 or 65 and older say they are single." I suppose my personal bias is that while being single is a valid lifestyle that is a lot of singles at age 50 to 64. I don't find the 30 to 49 range of 21% to be that big (at least a percent or two are likely single for expected reasons like entering a priesthood or being asexual) and while the below 30 single rate is a little surprising the difference between an 18 year old adult and 28 year old adult is too big to draw conclusions.

csa 1y ago
> "Did men and women stop making babies and I didn't notice?" In the US, birth rates have declined from ~2.0 children per woman in the 90s and 00s to ~1.6 in the 20s, so yes. Also note that your numbers seem to be single or not single rather than married or not married — that is, folks who are dating are included. I will also add that there are people in my social circle who are very much in FWB relationships or “situationships” — that is, it doesn’t seem like a nurturing, consistent, or stable relationship from the outside looking in. These folks probably don't count as “single” in your numbers, but they functionally are. As for folks over 50 — yeah, I’ve seen a lot of them just give up on dating. They live very active lives, and dating isn’t a part of it.
- staticman2 1y ago
  I'm not sure why anybody other than a social security acturiarian would care about the children per woman rate. More on point is: "Some 86% of women ages 40 to 44 are mothers, compared with 80% in 2006, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data." That was as of 2018 and the first link that came up. Clearly men and women are still making babies. This number if accurate is actually surprisingly high.

csa 1y ago

> "Did men and women stop making babies and I didn't notice?" In the US, birth rates have declined from ~2.0 children per woman in the 90s and 00s to ~1.6 in the 20s, so yes. Also note that your numbers seem to be single or not single rather than married or not married — that is, folks who are dating are included. I will also add that there are people in my social circle who are very much in FWB relationships or “situationships” — that is, it doesn’t seem like a nurturing, consistent, or stable relationship from the outside looking in. These folks probably don't count as “single” in your numbers, but they functionally are. As for folks over 50 — yeah, I’ve seen a lot of them just give up on dating. They live very active lives, and dating isn’t a part of it.

staticman2 1y ago
I'm not sure why anybody other than a social security acturiarian would care about the children per woman rate. More on point is: "Some 86% of women ages 40 to 44 are mothers, compared with 80% in 2006, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data." That was as of 2018 and the first link that came up. Clearly men and women are still making babies. This number if accurate is actually surprisingly high.