45% of men ages 18-25 have never approached a woman in person, according to a recently published study. Almost HALF. I was floored to hear this just last week. Now, like any statistic or factoid given on it’s own, it’s wise to take a few minutes to step back and consider the context and other factors at play. We don’t know what the sample size is in regard to the 45% of men study, so we don’t know if it truly plays out this way across the population.

Today I read a Readers’ Digest article (yeah, I still love Readers’ Digest, always have!) about, wait for it… STAY AT HOME SONS. This refers to boys, nay, men, who move back in with their parents after college or even later in life, post-divorce for example, and in exchange for free rent, provide housekeeping services like gardening, cleaning, driving to doctor’s appointments, etc. They’re embracing this title, without shame. Listen, I’m all in favor of gender-neutrality in the housekeeping and caregiving worlds. I am ALL IN on multi-generational households – my parents are a key component of helpuing us raise our kids. But Pew Research data from 2023 cites that about 20% of men ages 25 – 35 are still living with their parents. 1 in 5 guys.

I’ll leave it to the many, many other bloggers, podcasters and media commentators to dig into more of what the young men are going through – but I think it’s clear that whatever is happening with young men, this having a substantial impact on young women. Now more than ever, women MUST go into the world financially literate and able to be independent.

Women aren’t being approached in person. Maybe they’re still being approached online or in some other way that romantic relationships are still beginning, budding, and working. If they are going on dates, there’s a 1 in 5 chance the guy lives with his parents. Yikes. Overall it seems that young adults across genders are delaying what we traditionally have considered adulthood. We’re seeing people not getting their drivers’ licenses until far later than 16. They’re then waiting on getting married, having kids, even living by themselves. More and more young adults still live with their parents. There is no sense of urgency.

To this GenXer, some of that is baffling. I could not wait to get out of my parents’ house. I was fully on my own (out of the house, not financially dependent on my parents) at 21, graduated and moved to another city where I was working by 23. Sure, I was homesick at times. But it’s also true that I (and many folks I know) delayed marriage and children in favor of a career, and I didn’t buy a home until much later either. There are economic explanations for this happening now, to be sure. There is also the issue that lifestyle creep was handed to young adults by their parents… it’s hard to go from avocado toast to ramen, sure.

While I don’t think this is doomsday by any means, I do think it’s reasonable to be prepared. Marriage will remain a strong institution in our society and culture, it simply may be delayed while we work out how we will transition back to the “real world” post-online. Still, women in this age group will likely, and possibly be required to do more on their own than ever before in ALL OF HISTORY. In some ways, this is great news – we’ve been preparing for this. To simplify it as “good” for women misses so much of the problem, but let’s think about the positives, shall we?

Girls, we are meeting money on our own, and that’s a good thing. We’ve got this. As soon as we’re working, we need to be building our emergency funds. We need to learn to use credit wisely. We need to build credit well, because we’re going to be buying our cars and our houses on our own. We will save for retirement on our own, because we will live longer, statistically. We need to look to our own futures, the families we wish to build, what we hope to give to the world, and secure our own financial futures within it. If you’re ready to get started, I’m right here.