In 2019, women hit a milestone in gender parity when they became the majority of the college-educated workforce.
While it may be easy to see how this achievement will impact the economy, earnings and job opportunities, it is probably a little bit harder to predict how it will shape, of all things, the dating market.
Jon Birger, a business journalist and former senior writer at Fortune, has authored two books on the connection between ratios and relationships. Birger acknowledges that not everyone has a desire to engage in a heterosexual relationship or get married. But of those who do, college-educated women may have a particularly hard time finding a partner, he notes.
Birger says this is because there are many fewer men enrolled in college — about 60% of college freshmen are now women. Men also drop out of college at higher rates, resulting in a dating market with a shortage of college-educated men. When this gender asymmetry is extended into broader society, Birger explains it can have significant consequences for people’s happiness, fertility rates and the economy.
And Andrew Cherlin, a professor of public policy at Johns Hopkins University, talks with us about his — related — new research on changing marriage rates for college and noncollege-educated Americans.
The article you just read is free because dedicated readers and listeners like you chose to support our nonprofit newsroom. Our team works tirelessly to ensure you hear the latest in international, human-centered reporting every weekday. But our work would not be possible without you. We need your help.
Make a gift today to help us reach our $25,000 goal and keep The World going strong. Every gift will get us one step closer.