The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
"Will women marry down?" That's the question that author of the provocative new book Manning Up, Kay Hymowitz, asks today in the pages of The Daily Caller. After all, she reminds us, the most recent classes of college graduates include a much greater proportion of women than men. For instance, in this year's graduating class, 57% of graduates will be women.
So considering the gender equation, won't women begin to replace the decades old practice of "marrying up" the socioeconomic ladder (the sociologically correct term, Hymowitz informs us, is "hypergamy") with "marrying down"?
In a word, no.
Rates of hypergamy will decrease, she explains, but hypergamy will be replaced by homogamy.
To coin a mouthful of a phrase, homogamy is replacing hypergamy.
It’s easy to figure out why educated men and women have finally found each other. For one thing, educated women now bring considerable income to the joint bank account. For another, Americans have grown to expect more equality and companionship in marriage than they did in the benighted past. It makes sense to assume that the University of Michigan grad will share interests and a mindset with someone he met in econ class rather than a clerk he locked eyes with at the DMV. This may be why, as several studies have found, husbands and wives with different education levels are more likely than homogamous couples to head to divorce court.
Still, the biggest reason we probably won’t see a lot more college-educated women walking down the aisle with their plumber is one we don’t like to say out loud: they want to have smart kids. Educated men and women are drawn to spouses they think will help them produce the children likely to thrive in the contemporary knowledge-based economy. That means high IQ, ambitious, and organized kids who will do their homework and take a lot of AP courses. The preference for alpha kids is the reason there is a luxury market for Ivy League egg and sperm donors. It also explains why, though we don’t have solid research distinguishing between elite and State U mating choices, Ms. Harvard will probably not accept a proposal from Mr. Florida State. The economist Greg Mankiw has quipped that “Harvard is probably the world’s most elite dating agency.” A glance at the New York Times nuptial pages suggests he’s right.
I buy Ms. Hymowitz's argument. For now. But if women continue to outpace men in education attainment well into the considerable future, at some point the math will catch up to them. At that point, won't women be faced with the prospect of either marrying down or resigning themselves to a life of spinsterhood?
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Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
If true, doesn't this go a long way towards bolstering Charles Murray's IQ-stratified-class theory?
May '10
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
Or they start marrying each other.
Dec '10
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
Diane Ellis, Ed.:
I buy Ms. Hymowitz's argument. For now. But if women continue to outpace men in education attainment well into the considerable future, at some point the math will catch up to them. At that point, won't women be faced with the prospect of either marrying down or resigning themselves to a life of spinsterhood? ·
Educated Western women will be able to import educated men from Asia -- India and China both have large imbalances between the genders due to the cultural bias against daughters.
Dec '10
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
Diane Ellis, Ed.:
This is not just one thing, it's the main thing. The burden of taxes means that the single-income family is extremely difficult to manage; the flux in the economy means that the husband can't be relied on to be the primary breadwinner at all times, A stable family unit these days requires two comparable incomes so that the family can withstand the loss of either income for a while.
Men have to marry for money these days.
Oct '10
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
Alas, history of relationships turned on its head so to speak. From this view, perhaps feminism has reached its goals. This however, denies that the egotisim in the achievements of women will still rely on the fact that a man will protect them in the end. Take it from there...
Jun '10
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
Women always marry down. It's the nature of the beast. *Snort* *Belch* Dang, I think I found a load of truffles underneath the garbage disposal . . . nom, nom, nom.
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
Tangentially related (sorta kinda)...I spent a small portion of my afternoon reading up on marriage and the federal income tax in celebration of tax day. I was curious whether marriage would result in an economic penalty or advantage in the case of my present relationship. Turns out we'd be penalized by around $1,500 in taxes. Disincentive!
Jul '10
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
I prefer living in a nag-free zone to marrying up or down.
Jul '10
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
No. Even though I find his theory plausible. This:
Still, the biggest reason we probably won’t see a lot more college-educated women walking down the aisle with their plumber is one we don’t like to say out loud: they want to have smart kids. Educated men and women are drawn to spouses they think will help them produce the children likely to thrive in the contemporary knowledge-based economy.
reeks of ignorant prejudice; it hardly seems a hard-headed practical decision.
The "knowledge-based economy?" What a sad joke that is when ignoramuses with 100k in debt and degrees in "Peace Studies" at 25 are put on a pedestal and guys who open successful barber shops at 23 aren't worth the time of day.
Anyone who thinks that practice of a skilled trade indicates stupidity needs her own IQ checked.
This claim:
several studies have found, husbands and wives with different education levels are more likely than homogamous couples to head to divorce court.
would be all the better for evidence.
Sep '10
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
Black women have faced this gap in attainment for years now. I'm no expert but I don't think it is working out all that well.
I have to laugh at the IQ/AP class thing. This sounds exactly like what a Jewish mother would come up with. Let me see if I can recollect all the hot Tri-Delts hanging out at the engineering school to bag a man with a high IQ. Did we really have to beat those gals off with sticks? If only they had listened to Kay.
Feb '11
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
I don't buy her argument. I don't even want to check it out of the library for free. It seems to me she has merely put down on paper a preening self-congratulatory homage to the educational choices the present national elite has foisted upon the country. That elite- by the way- has run the country into bankruptcy, partially because they are so intent on "education" as an end in itself, regardless of cost or utility.
I'm sure Ms. Hymowitz wouldn't care, but that plumber she uses as an example of a moron probably has a more stable job, a higher income, and a brighter future than roughly every single one of the woman's studies "graduates" whom she surely regards as a having reached a lofty plane far above that of a mere tradesman.
Basically, men have noticed it's a bad ROI to spend tens of thousands of greenbacks to get a degree to get a job that will pay less than a they will earn as a plumber.
Even if Kay Hymowitz will despise them for that.
Which is OK. We're men. We can take it.
May '10
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
Heart-ache.
Whaddaya mean, they wouldn't marry down? Why not? OK, let's try this: what if I was the last man on earth?
Aug '10
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
Palaeologus
This:
Still, the biggest reason we probably won’t see a lot more college-educated women walking down the aisle with their plumber is one we don’t like to say out loud: they want to have smart kids. Educated men and women are drawn to spouses they think will help them produce the children likely to thrive in the contemporary knowledge-based economy.
reeks of ignorant prejudice; it hardly seems a hard-headed practical decision.
The "knowledge-based economy?" What a sad joke that is when ignoramuses with 100k in debt and degrees in "Peace Studies" at 25 are put on a pedestal and guys who open successful barber shops at 23 aren't worth the time of day.
Anyone who thinks that practice of a skilled trade indicates stupidity needs her own IQ checked.
. · Apr 18 at 6:26pm
Dang- you beat me to it, spent to much time crafting my critique of that prejudice.
Close reading skills never cleared a sewer pipe. You can't outsource a burning house.
And in my world it takes a little smarts to assist the safe docking of a 1,100 ft container ship.
Jul '10
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
Just more Ladies for Me.
May '10
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
I seem to remember this being an issue several years ago in Singapore (a place where social engineering gets tried out), wherein the government tried to encourage the practice of educated women marrying down. Don't know if it had any effect or is ongoing at this time.
May '10
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
Or fix a refrigerator... or get rid of bees... Just ask Peter.
My brother-in-law is highly successful in politics and law. I wouldn't trust him with the business end of a pair of pliers if my life depended on it. And neither would his wife since she calls me when things need fixed.
Aug '10
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
Xennady: ...seems to me she has merely put down on paper a preening self-congratulatory homage to the educational choices the present national elite has foisted upon the country.
I'm sure Ms. Hymowitz wouldn't care, but that plumber she uses as an example of a moron probably has a more stable job, a higher income, and a brighter future than roughly every single one of the woman's studies "graduates" whom she surely regards as a having reached a lofty plane far above that of a mere tradesman.
. · Apr 18 at 6:38pm
Xennady-
May I respectfuly entreat you to withold judgement on Kay Hymowitz? I have been reading her over at City Journal for a few years now and it seemed odd to me that she would welcome this trend in our society.
Having applied my feeble and utterly unmarketable close reading skills to her Daily Caller piece, I now believe she was reporting rather than advocating this state of affairs.
She ends with this:
Americans don’t like to think of themselves as class conscious. But marriage brings out the snob in the most democratic man or woman — for better or worse.
Edited on Apr 18, 2011 at 7:15pmRe: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
Squishy Blue RINO
May I respectfuly entreat you to withold judgement on Kay Hymowitz? I have been reading her over at City Journal for a few years now and it seemed odd to me that she would welcome this trend in our society.
Having applied my feeble and utterly unmarketable close reading skills to her Daily Caller piece I now believe she was reporting rather than advocating this state of affairs.
She ends with this:
Americans don’t like to think of themselves as class conscious. But marriage brings out the snob in the most democratic man or woman — for better or worse. · Apr 18 at 7:13pm
Yes, I believe you're exactly right SBR. She's reporting on what she sees as a trend, not condoning or applauding it. Let's not shoot the messenger!
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
Xennady:
... that plumber...probably has a more stable job, a higher income, and a brighter future than roughly every single one of the woman's studies "graduates" whom she surely regards as a having reached a lofty plane far above that of a mere tradesman.
Basically, men have noticed it's a bad ROI to spend tens of thousands of greenbacks to get a degree to get a job that will pay less than a they will earn as a plumber.
I don't know all that many 25 year old men who are successful tradesmen. Not sure if this is because not many exist (doubtful, right?) or if it's because I never meet these sorts of people in my social circles. And therein lies one reason why women seldom "marry down." They simply have rare occasion to interact with folks in very different walks of life.
Edited on Apr 18, 2011 at 7:31pmMay '10
Re: The Looming Deficit (of Eligible Bachelors)
Until your toilet breaks and your husband/boy friend looks at you like you just asked him to cure cancer and do it now.