Single men ‘significantly’ poorer amid collapse in marriage rates

[SerendipityJane]

Grist for the incel mill.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/03/10/single-men-significantly-poorer-amid-collapse-marriage-rate/

Single young men earn £5,000 less each year than those in a stable relationship, research has found, as Britain suffers a collapse in marriage rates.

Analysis by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) found that an average 16 to 24-year-old man was “significantly better off” if he was married, cohabiting or in a relationship.

It comes after research by the think tank revealed that the gender pay gap has reversed, with the wages of young women now consistently being paid more than young men for the first time

My 2 sons (18, 21) are drifting with little discernible ambition. I can’t wait for them to get girlfriends as you often see this gives young men motivation. I didn’t raise them to be like this it drives me mad! I was really self motivated at their age with little encouragement from alcoholic parents. Their only ambition is gaming related.

I dont believe girlfriends give men motivation. I think the obsession with having a girlfriend is silly.

If your child is an incel then you need to take a long hard look at yourself!

No one is enjoying the decline in mental health, but as a previous poster has said, maybe it is a reflection of women putting themselves and their careers first, and no longer propping up men's lives so they can have careers

If someone had an incel type of son I wouldn't blame the parents (I say parents but it's the mothers who'll get all the criticism). The reasons have to be outside of that, because women of the same generation are doing so well - and have been raised by the same cohort of parents.

I do find it odd however when there are comments from parents brushing off concerns of their sons future and potential partnerships and eligibilty. I think I'd be encouraging young men to improve themselves, as women have been doing, partner up and benefit from that arrangement.

Do they even attempt to control for selection bias?

Why that age range? A lot of them will still be in education.

How many people of either sex are "married, cohabiting or in a relationship" between 16 and 24?

In the mid 70s we thought it strange for contemporaries to marry straight out of university. In 1972 the average age at marriage was 27.4 for men and 24.7 for women.

Now it's even higher, of course, but people didn't settle down all that early, on average, even 50 years ago.

I thought I married young but surely there aren't many 16 year olds married?

That is exactly what I was wondering?

I have noticed that so many specifically men in the younger generation are choosing jobs not careers like they would have done in the past.

You can’t get trades people but there are PTs on every corner. Can’t get accountants, Engineers either.

The most selected uni courses from our local schools are childcare and care for young women and for young men it is sports courses and PT. Nobody is going to earn well out of those.

It's a rather silly piece, isn't it.

Surely much of the 'collapse' in rates of marriage for 16-24 yos is down to some good things - much higher participation rates in higher education for young men and even moreso young women, women building a career. Better info on birth control too and not 'having to get married'.

And this that they cite:

However, a study by the US Federal Reserve more than two decades ago attributed the link to “selection hypothesis”, adding that men with higher wages were more likely to get married and stay married because they also tended to have the qualities that make them good workers.

This doubtless still accounts for quite a lot of it

Daft age range. All the under 18s will be either in full time education or in apprenticeships - so not earning much, and virtually none will be married or cohabiting. Those most likely to be married or cohabiting will be the oldest ones, who are also most likely to have finished education and have had the most time to get established in a career. So of course there is a correlation.

Or it could be that men who earn higher salaries make better partners and therefore are more likely to be in a relationship.

And we don't have a gender pay gap in the UK, we have an earnings gap between genders.

What a pointless article.

Surely it's fairly obvious a fair percentage of the single category will still be in some sort of education, school, college, uni.

The only people who will be married will be those in jobs, even if it's a NMW little prospects job.

Even 30/40 years ago getting married young really meant early 20s for women, mid 20s for men.
3 out 4 marriages I know of with couples younger than that just didn't last. And I imagine that's fairly common.

It's also almost as if the people who apply themselves in school and don't worry what their peers will think of them if they are seen to read or do their homework manage to end up with jobs that pay better than those for people who leave school without much to show for it aside from a chip on their shoulders against reading, writing, and arithmetic.

I think men in marriages and relationships are more likely to be the breadwinner and maybe even encouraged by their other half. Whilst women in the same position, may not typically be encouraged to excel in their careers by their partners - sometimes they get the opposite where their partners encourage them to stay safe. You see it all the time - I see it in real life where a woman has married young and 10 years later hasn’t invested in herself or career and can’t be independent. Whereas I’ve seen young men get married and their wives are running the house.

I must say that the reverse is also possible - but generally speaking women are very motivated when single. Whilst men are more likely to have extra motivation in a relationship.

Not necessarily.
In the 16-24 demographic the ones who apply themselves are more likely to be still studying and not earning full-time. Or of doing gap years.

Those who didn't are more like to be working but in low paid jobs.

The other thing that might influence the earnings of that age group are those who've had children in their teens. Who might not be able to go on to study if they have a child to support.

You don't need a Degree to be a bin man, but we still need bin men, just the same as we need Doctors.

It comes after research by the think tank revealed that the gender pay gap has reversed, with the wages of young women now consistently being paid more than young men for the first time.

I thought this had been the case for years? I've read a fair few studies saying that women earn more until their 30s or around 40 (depending on the study).

The Economist also did a study which found that childless female execs 'continue to be promoted more aggressively than their male peers', so I speculate that's it's possibly having kids rather than prejudice that turns the tables.

www.theguardian.com/money/2015/aug/29/women-in-20s-earn-more-men-same-age-study-finds

I know that DH would be languishing in a bedsit, sleeping in dirty sheets, eating a kebab for dinner if it wasn’t for me…

Yes, it seems to correlate with having kids - or anticipation of having kids. Women may choose professions, like teaching, which may fit more easily with childcare. Or other public or voluntary sector roles with stronger maternity rights, parental and carers leave and flexible working. A solicitor in private practice may earn more, but have worse leave entitlements.

It’s men who need to shift to close the gender pay gap. When they’re parents. They should expect to do an equitable share of childcare and housework. Generally, men do less of this than women and this leaves women who work full-time totally burned out.

the average married young man in full-time work earning £27,117 in 2022-23. This compares with the average single young man earning £22,297.

Have they corrected for age? Because a 24 year old is likely both to earn more and to be married.

Agree with others it's a very odd age range to study.

It's possible that the married ones tend to be the ones who didn't go to university and are now a few years into a career. The university ones are not yet married and just starting out. But may overtake the others a bit later in salary terms. I have so many questions!