All over the rich world, fewer people are hooking up and shacking up

The reality is women now have options (besides being a stay at home mom) and single, childfree women are the happiest cohort based on the data. Women are totally fine being single and economically independent, and if they want kids, they can go the single parent and IVF route. The article addresses this “excess men” issue, while the unfortunate reality is there is no solution. Same deal with women who want to marry up with a limited pool of such partners. Happiness is reality minus expectations, and there is, broadly speaking, an expectations reality disconnect at scale. An equilibrium will be found, but it will take a generation or two at least (imho).

TLDR People in the dating marketplace will all need to be a bit more humble and realistic, but I think it’s unlikely to occur due to inertia and mental models.

Related:

Concerns about ageing society ignore huge opportunities, says population expert - https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/dec/25/concerns-age... - December 25th, 2025

> “But there is always going to be a group, probably growing, of women who have decided that they, for all sorts of reasons, are not going to have children. And in a way, we’ve got to accept that and work with that.”