# Are young singles relationship-averse? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 15, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-young-singles-relationship-averse/993203 "2023-11-15T19:29:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 7
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-young-singles-relationship-averse/993203/7 "2023-11-16T14:42:43Z")
Not disputing @Toxylon just above, but I’ll call attention to something they said so neatly it might pass unnoticed. Mom said she’d be _considered_ a failure. IOW, it was others who judged and she felt compulsion to comply with that judgment. Meanwhile, the current generation is deciding for themselves as individuals. That’s a ginormous difference in attitude which leads to an enormous, and much more widely varied range of behaviors by current folks. And not just about marriage. Moving on to my opinions. Once one is not forced by social convention or instinctual bio-imperative to reproduce, one doesn’t _need_ a spouse/SO. One might _want_ one, but they come with a lot of disadvantages too. As a widower in my then-early 60s I definitely saw / see lots of women in similar situations that need a marriage to a man like they need an accordion. Dating is fun; co-habiting is a PITA, and being married means no escape when his / your stuff becomes more than you’re willing to put up with. See here for more on this from older folk’s POVs: > [@Remarriage for widows and widowers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remarriage-for-widows-and-widowers/991547): > > Someone posted to advice columnist Carolyn Hax’s chat this afternoon as follows: “The facts are the facts. 85% of men are married or in a committed relationship within 2 years after their wife dies. 5% of widows are.” I found both of these numbers…very surprising. I would have guessed that men are indeed more likely than women to find romance after the death of a spouse, but I thought that 85% seemed much too high and 5% way too low. Of course, my impression is based almost entirely on people… Taking note of the disastrous baby dearth in many unsettled countries, e.g. Russia, I’m wondering if concerns about global warming, Russian & Chinese aggressions, far-right lunacy in many countries but relevant especially to us here, mostly the US, is leading lots of young folks to say “Baby maybe, but for sure not right now”. Which again really undermines the rationale for committed LTRs versus serial short term “fun in the sun while it lasts” relationships? --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-young-singles-relationship-averse/993203)._