To think the young are less interested in sex, relationships and children

Consent isn't a minefield. It's pretty simple. You should try and get your head around it so you can educate your children. I would guess he already knows though and you are the one who thinks it's a minefield, I've never met a young person confused by it.

I’d echo PP who said young people today don’t drink as much as in the past, when I was young almost all the sex I had was after drinking and nights out. That was how you met someone, through friends or in a pub, now it’s all online.

I've seen on many sites that it's about the fundamentally different things the sexes desire.

They often say that women tend to want things in men that come with age... height, strength, confidence, success, competence, experience, financial security, etc., which biologically makes sense as it's about wanting the best for your offspring.

While men are perceived as wanting things that come with youth... beauty, innocence, naivety, inexperience, fertility, sex drive.

With women being more career-minded and only accepting the best men (which takes time), and the perceived lack of sufficiently 'box-ticking' men, are many couples simply leaving families too late?

The young people I work with seem MORE interested than we were. So many are living with and engaged to partners straight out of uni which seems more like it was in my parents' day. And those that aren't with a partner are obsessively dating via an array of apps.

Yes. I have three aged 22-25 all still at home and can confirm.
They want to travel, Earn enough to leave home. Not focusing on relationships. Very sensible and emotionally mature compared to when I was their age.
I do try and counsel them to think about prioritising a relationship as the best way to get ahead in life. It’s probably the only way they’ll ever afford to buy somewhere! But they talk about moving away from London as a better option.
They all have happy and full lives. Are busy and have friends and are attractive and outgoing so it’s not lack of opportunity. The girls have had one relationship between them and ended that as too much effort. The boy has been with his (lovely) GF for two years and says she’s the one and they both joke about not bothering with anyone else if they ever split up.

I grew up with the full expectation that I would live school, get married and have babies. My family never actually forgave me for doing the opposite.

I went to uni and married and divorced in the end. I've never been happier and I think my children can see that.

DD has had one boyfriend, who pretty much annoyed her with the expectations of a (normal) relationship. She's now at uni and couldn't be less interested. She works hard, is in the library or gym most evenings. She's been to the union about three times and even then it's just one drink. She talks about doing post grad courses, travelling and living abroad. Women have more opportunities now and they are choosing a different life.

The younger people I know are definitely into sex..

I think birth rates and population are going to drop massively over the next couple of decades.

Birth rates have already dropped and our population is only going to increase because of immigration

Young people seem to engage more online, and it can be very easy to be fooled by someone's online persona. You can see examples on here that many are quite happy to never leave the house or properly interact with others. It's not a good trend.

I know it’s not the point but any single full time wage being able to finance house purchase and support a family is pushing it a bit.
Large numbers lived in council or housing association houses. The mums I knew as a child in the 60s and 70s all worked if at all possible. Part time, term time but they worked.

Yes, it's p*rn. This is complete speculation, of course, but it is intuition.

@arethereanyleftatall I agree, we've taught our dd's not to accept shit from men or anybody at all. However, society hasn't educated its sons to be better humans & life partners. So the men haven't evolved but the women have so both their expectations of each other don't align & causes conflict.

Society needs to tackle the growing problem of male misogyny, violence, porn, fascism & the far right influence on young men. This toxic combination is ruining young men & the over run prison system can't deal with them.

The difference is choice.

Young people have choice now and it's only some that think that relationships are everything. Many simply don't think that, don't want that, they put a higher value on careers, travel, themselves, friends, freedom. It isn't that they think men are all incels.

I don't think the stigma (if it was that) of being single has completely gone, but agree with you about the general trends you highlight.

It's not a phenomenon restricted to women though.

There seems to be a continuing theme that women's only purpose in life is breeding and raising a family

Not my life. I've only had one child (by choice) but my relationship with my DH (of over 30 years), my daughter, our families and friends is central to my contentment and fulfilment.

That's probably why I'm not spewing bile like many on here are.

And I think relationships - family, friends, spouses - are everything. No career or travelling can compare with having close bonds with people who care about you.

But I don't view men as the enemy and lads as porn addicted incels.

DD(19) has been with her boyfriend for a couple of years. They met through friends in year 13. What I find interesting is ...

They are not the be all and end all for each other like my friends and I were when we were younger and had a proper boyfriend.

They value their friends as much as their relationship. This is healthy but the other thing I've noticed...

Their friends who want relationships don't tend to meet girl/boyfriends in the traditional way of discos (don't laugh!), clubbing or at university. I thought there'd be lots of opportunities for that at uni but DD says most relationships start on line.

I can’t help but feel it’s a shame. Youngsters are stuck in this arrested development, living with parents, not able to financially support themselves, let alone a family, are maturing later and relationships seem a lot more complex and disposable these days with everything being examined and scrutinised on social media etc.

II have teens and one of them has had age appropriate “relationships” and the other speaks often about becoming a dad one day but both have been brought up in a happy, nuclear family and see our set up as a positive one whereas lot don’t have that at home or don't feel the same.

I was young in the late 90s / early 00s and whilst things were just starting to change in this regard, I am envious of young people today who seem very relaxed and know themselves well. I was desperate to conform but never had a boyfriend in my teens, I did have male attention but it wasn’t the ones I wanted, and pined after the ones who didn’t want me. It felt very dramatic at the time and I could shake teenage me for all the wasted time and effort!

DD aged 19 at uni had never had a BF. She tells me that all the boys want is sex and she wants to date, so is waiting for them to calm down as she puts it. She also frequently tells me how disrespectful the boys are to women and blames porn. DD drinks but says she doesn't like being drunk and often goes out for dinner with friends instead..

DS aged 17 also never been in a relationship. DS doesn't drink at all.

I would say their friends are mostly the same.

There doesn't seem to be any pressure to have sex or drink in the way there was when I was young.

@TomPinch People should be focusing on themselves, and living the life they want. Women aren’t just on earth to be slaves for society.

I have noticed a lot of younger women not having their lives revolve around what men want. Not removing body hair, wearing makeup etc.
They are considerably smarter than previous generations. They have probably seen how well having a family usually goes for a woman and are running in the opposite direction.

Well, I can only offer my own perspective.

I am mid-20s, have been single since before Covid (not by choice) and am, honestly, increasingly lonely. I would really like a relationship, but due to personal circumstances I can't have one. I've always felt somewhat invisible. A lot of people I went to school/university with are coupled up- even married - and that makes me feel even more defective.

Everyone I know is either in a very serious relationship, or completely single. There doesn't seem to be much in between.

I think it's part of a wider phenomenon that is not good, though I imagine you might disagree. The phenomenon is that the rules in a relationship are a matter purely for the people involved in that relationship: wider social expectations shouldn't matter, or so the theory goes. Almost like a contract.

But the result is that relationships become a power game and those less adept at playing it get massively messed around, or simply stop having relationships..

Morals have become very transactional, or so it seems to me.