Hey MXM, thanks for reading and taking the time to drop a comment. Appreciate both. Yeah, I'm not really sure if that factors into the data at all, which further shows the limitations of such data and drawing sweeping conclusions like "there's a loneliness epidemic because guys under thirty are single" from them. Like, I'm astonished that nobody stopped to think, "Wait a minute, is there any other reason that guys in their twenties might be reporting that they're single?" It's astonishing that so many never applied the slightest shred of skepticism to the claim.

Or, as you're saying, it's also possible that some of these men are saying their single, but, if you asked their girlfriends, she'd tell you they're very much not single. A lot of guys in their twenties think this way—they're in a committed relationship with someone right now, but it's not someone they consider their life partner, so the term "committed" is a bit flimsy. I'm sure we've all met this guy a few times in our lives.

There are a lot of explanations besides "society is falling apart" for these findings.

Thanks again for reading and giving me some more to think about and explore.

Cheers,

Joe