Monday, January 23, 2006

Statistical Dating

So here are some exciting factoids from MSN’s 10 Dating Statistics You Ought To Know:
44 percent of adult Americans are single, according to U.S. Census figures. This means there are over 100 million unattached folks out there. ...

Statistically, the find-someone odds favor guys: There are 86 unmarried men for every 100 unmarried women, although in some regions the gender ratio favors women, especially out west.
Hey, now that’s some fantastic news for single men! But hold on a minute. How could there be so many more single women than single men? Unless multi-husband polygamy is far more common than I realized, the difference must be attributable to something that causes women to outnumber men in general – like, say, the fact that women live longer. And that means most of those extra single women are probably on the elderly side.

Some quick calculations based on the figures above show that of the 100 million single people, about 46 million are men and 54 million are women. That’s a difference of 8 million. Checking the 2000 Census, I see that women outnumber men by over 6 million in the 65+ age bracket. Discounting May-December romances with women as the senior partners, I think the conclusion is pretty obvious. Guys, if you really want to take advantage of those superior find-someone odds, ignore the article’s advice to start “hitting on cuties at Starbucks.” You need to start trolling the retirement communities and nursing homes.

2 comments:

Glen Whitman said...

Brooke -- I thought of that possibility later (after making the post). But I don't think they're taking orientation into account. They're using Census figures, and to my knowledge the Census doesn't inquire about sexual orientation. I presume the definition of "single" here is "not legally married," and legal same-sex marriage just isn't a reality yet.

Unknown said...

I don't think they're taking orientation into account.
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