Women in college outnumber men by nearly two to one: 65% women and only 35% men attend college today. Nobody likes it and no one knows what to do about it.
The exact percentage of women varies at each university, because top-tier colleges with lots of applications can choose to admit a freshman class of a 50/50 male/female ratio. But there is a cascading effect on downstream schools when a majority of college applications are from women. The sex disparity is much greater at less-selective schools.
One huge result of the sex imbalance is that there are not enough men for women to date and marry. Women prefer to marry “up”, known as hypergamy. Most women seek a husband who will make more money and be more successful. This fantasy may sound hopelessly outdated, but it is still true because most women want the choice not to be employed outside of the home or to have a part-time or flex-time job.
Many women who cannot find their ideal partner do not “settle” with a man with less prospects; today, these women stay single. But the women still want babies, which has resulted in an increase in higher-educated women becoming single mothers.
As quoted in the Wall Street Journal (9/7/21):
Jennifer Cruz, a New York City special education teacher with a master’s degree, was approaching age 30 when she decided she didn’t want to wait to get married to have a child. “When I realized I was attracting the wrong men, and I really just wanted a child, I said, ‘Why not separate the two things?’” she said. “I had all my life to find love, but I didn’t have all my life to have a child.” Using a sperm donor, she conceived and gave birth to a baby boy shortly before her 30th birthday. Ms. Cruz, now 36 years old, eventually married and is now pregnant with her second child, although that marriage is in the process of dissolving, she said. Ms. Cruz said she is grateful that she became a mother on her own terms. “I felt like I had the freedom to have my son,” she said.
Today, 40 percent of babies in the United States are born to unmarried women. No matter the educational achievements of their mothers, these babies will have lifetime disadvantages.
