Fat and lonely: America faces a grim future as marriage rates plummet

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The system of marriage that our parents or grandparents knew is gone, and it’s not coming back. People are less likely to settle down, and women are less likely to settle for an average guy. Marriage has gone upscale, and become something of a luxury product, but the men that women do want—known as high value males—are in very short supply.

One key point to consider, he said, is that “women universally, in all cultures, have stronger mate preferences for men with status and resources. Since there’s been a ‘flip’ in education and higher professional degrees, with more and more women exceeding men, that means that there’s a smaller and smaller pool of men whom women consider eligible.” So, he adds, “women either wait and hope to find some man who exceeds threshold—at least as successful as they are, and preferably more so—or they opt out of the mating market; or they ’settle’ for men, and essentially ‘mate down.’ Women are typically very reluctant to do this.”

Of all the physical characteristics that matter to women, a man’s height appears to be the most important. This is true across cultures. The so-called “perfect” height is 6 feet. That’s bad news for the average American man, who stands at 5 foot 9 inches.

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More bad news: American men are shrinking. In 1914, American men were the third-tallest group in the world. Almost a century later, they rank 37th. American men’s height peaked a quarter of a century ago. Poorer nutrition appears to be a reason why, though immigration from Latin America and Asia is probably a likelier answer.

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