Editing Millennials (section)

=== Courtship behavior ===
In many countries, people have since the mid-twentieth century been increasingly looking for mates of the same socioeconomic status and educational attainment. The phenomenon of preferring mates with characteristics similar to one's own is known as [[Human mating strategies#Assortative mating|assortative mating]]. Part of the reason growing economic and educational assortative mating was economic in nature. Innovations which became commercially available in the late twentieth century such as the washing machine and frozen food reduced the amount of time people needed to spend on housework, which diminished the importance of domestic skills.<ref name="TheEconomist-2017">{{Cite news|date=21 September 2017|title=Marital choices are exacerbating household income inequality|newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2017/09/21/marital-choices-are-exacerbating-household-income-inequality|access-date=20 December 2020}}</ref> Moreover, by the early 2000s, it was less feasible for a couple with one spouse having no more than a high-school diploma to earn about the national average; on the other hand, couples both of whom had at least a bachelor's degree could expect to make a significant amount above the national average. People thus had a clear economic incentive to seek out a mate with at least as high a level of education in order to maximize their potential income.<ref>{{Cite news|date=8 February 2014|title=Sex, brains and inequality|newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/united-states/2014/02/08/sex-brains-and-inequality|access-date=20 December 2020}}</ref> Another incentive for this kind of assortative mating lies in the future of the offspring. People have since the mid-twentieth century increasingly wanted [[Heritability of IQ|intelligent]] and well-educated children, and marrying bright people who make a lot of money goes a long way in achieving that goal.<ref name="TheEconomist-2017" /><ref name="Miller-2016">{{Cite news|last1=Miller|first1=Claire Cain|last2=Bui|first2=Quoctrung|date=27 February 2016|title=Equality in Marriages Grows, and So Does Class Divide|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/upshot/rise-in-marriages-of-equals-and-in-division-by-class.html|url-status=live|access-date=1 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224010231/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/upshot/rise-in-marriages-of-equals-and-in-division-by-class.html|archive-date=24 December 2020}}</ref> Couples in the early twenty-first century tend to hold egalitarian rather than traditional views on gender roles. Modern marriage is more about companionship rather than bread-winning for the man and homemaking for the woman.<ref name="Miller-2016" /> American and Chinese youths are increasingly choosing whether or not to marry according to their personal preferences rather than family, societal, or religious expectations.<ref name="Miller-2016" /><ref name="Gan-2021">{{Cite news|last=Gan|first=Nectar|date=30 January 2021|title=Chinese millennials aren't getting married, and the government is worried|work=CNN|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/29/china/china-millennials-marriage-intl-hnk/index.html|access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref>[[File:Under the veil.jpg|thumb|Millennials are not particularly keen on pursuing romance and marriage. ''Pictured'': A newly wedded couple from Wales (2008)]]
As of 2016, 54% of Russian millennials were married.<ref name="eurekalert">{{cite web|title=Millennials: Bet for the future|url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/nruh-mbf061118.php|access-date=26 January 2019|website=www.eurekalert.org|publisher=EurekAlert! Science News}}</ref>

According to the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, the number of people getting married for the first time went from 23.8 million in 2013 to 13.9 million in 2019, a 41% drop. Meanwhile, the marriage rate continued its decline, 6.6 per 1,000 people, a 33% drop compared to 2013. These trends are due to multiple reasons. The one-child policy, introduced in 1979, has curbed the number of young people in China. On top of that, the traditional preference for sons has resulted in a marked gender imbalance; as of 2021, China has over 30 million "surplus" men.<ref name="Gan-2021" />

In the 1990s, the Chinese government reformed higher education in order to increase access, whereupon significantly more young people, a slight majority of whom being women, have received a university degree. Consequently, many young women are now gainfully employed and financially secure. Traditional views on gender roles dictate that women be responsible for housework and childcare, regardless of their employment status. Workplace discrimination against women (with families) is commonplace; for example, an employer might be more skeptical towards a married woman with one child, fearing she might have another (as the one-child policy was rescinded in 2016) and take more maternity leave. Altogether, there is less incentive for young women to marry.<ref name="Gan-2021" />

For young Chinese couples in general, the cost of living, especially the cost of housing in the big cities, is a serious obstacle to marriage. In addition, Chinese millennials are less keen on marrying than their predecessors as a result of cultural change.<ref name="Gan-2021" />

Writing for ''The Atlantic'' in 2018, Kate Julian reported that among the countries that kept track of the sexual behavior of their citizens—Australia, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States—all saw a decline in the frequency of sexual intercourse among teenagers and young adults. Although experts disagree on the methodology of data analysis, they do believe that young people today are less sexually engaged than their elders, such as the baby boomers, when they were their age. This is despite the fact that online dating platforms allow for the possibility of casual sex, the wide availability of contraception, and the relaxation of attitudes towards sex outside of marriage.<ref name="Julian-2018">{{Cite news|last=Julian|first=Kate|date=December 2018|title=Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex?|work=The Atlantic|department=Culture|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/12/the-sex-recession/573949/|access-date=2 September 2020}}</ref>

A 2020 study published in the [[JAMA (journal)|Journal of the American Medical Association]] (JAMA) by researchers from [[Indiana University]] in the United States and the [[Karolinska Institute]]t from Sweden found that during the first two decades of the twenty-first century, young Americans had sexual intercourse less frequently than in the past. Among men aged 18 to 24, the share of the sexually inactive increased from 18.9% between 2000 and 2002 to 30.9% between 2016 and 2018. Women aged 18 to 34 had sex less often as well. Reasons for this trend are manifold. People who were unemployed, only had part-time jobs, and students were the most likely to forego sexual experience while those who had higher income were stricter in [[Human mating strategies|mate selection]]. Psychologist Jean Twenge, who did not participate in the study, suggested that this might be due to "a broader cultural trend toward delayed development", meaning various adult activities are postponed. She noted that being economically dependent on one's parents discourages sexual intercourse. Other researchers noted that the rise of the Internet, computer games, and social media could play a role, too, since older and married couples also had sex less often. In short, people had many options. A 2019 study by the [[London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine|London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine]] found a similar trend in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Woodyatt|first=Amy|date=15 June 2020|title=Young Americans are having less sex than ever|work=CNN|department=Health|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/12/health/young-americans-less-sex-intl-scli-wellness/index.html|access-date=1 September 2020}}</ref><ref>Ueda P, Mercer CH, Ghaznavi C, Herbenick D. Trends in Frequency of Sexual Activity and Number of Sexual Partners Among Adults Aged 18 to 44 Years in the US, 2000-2018. ''JAMA Netw Open.'' 2020;3(6):e203833. {{doi|10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.3833}}</ref> Although this trend precedes the COVID-19 pandemic, fear of infection is likely to fuel the trend the future, study co-author Peter Ueda told Reuters.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Joseph|first1=Saumya|last2=Banerjee|first2=Ankur|date=12 June 2020|title=Young U.S. men having a lot less sex in the 21st century, study shows|work=Reuters|department=Health News|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-health-sex/young-u-s-men-having-a-lot-less-sex-in-the-21st-century-study-shows-idUSKBN23J2LI|access-date=1 September 2020}}</ref>

In a 2019 poll, the Pew Research Center found that about 47% American adults believed dating had become more difficult within the last decade or so, while only 19% said it became easier and 33% thought it was the same. Majorities of both men (65%) and women (43%) agreed that the [[MeToo movement|#MeToo movement]] posed challenges for the dating market while 24% and 38%, respectively, thought it made no difference. In all, one in two of single adults were not looking for a romantic relationship. Among the rest, 10% were only interested in casual relationships, 14% wanted committed relationships only, and 26% were open to either kind.<ref name="Brown-2020a">{{Cite web|last=Brown|first=Anna|date=20 August 2020|title=Nearly Half of U.S. Adults Say Dating Has Gotten Harder for Most People in the Last 10 Years|url=https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/08/20/nearly-half-of-u-s-adults-say-dating-has-gotten-harder-for-most-people-in-the-last-10-years/|access-date=21 August 2020|website=Pew Research Center}}</ref> Among younger people (18 to 39), 27% wanted a committed relationship only, 15% casual dates only, and 58% either type of relationship. For those between the ages of 18 and 49, the top reasons for their decision to avoid dating were having more important priorities in life (61%), preferring being single (41%), being too busy (29%), and pessimism about their chances of success (24%).<ref name="Brown-2020b">{{Cite web|last=Brown|first=Anna|date=20 August 2020|title=A profile of single Americans|url=https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/08/20/a-profile-of-single-americans/|access-date=21 August 2020|website=Pew Research Center}}</ref>

While most Americans found their romantic partners with the help of friends and family, younger adults were more likely to encounter them online than their elders, with 21% of those aged 18 to 29 and 15% of those aged 30 to 49 saying they met their current partners this way. For comparison, only 8% of those aged 50 to 64 and 5% of those aged 65 and over did the same. People aged 18 to 29 were most likely to have met their current partners in school while adults aged 50 and up were more likely to have met their partners at work. Among those in the 18 to 29 age group, 41% were single, including 51% of men and 32% of women. Among those in the 30 to 49 age group, 23% were single, including 27% of men and 19% of women. This reflects the general trend across the generations that men tend to marry later (and die earlier) than women.<ref name="Brown-2020b" />

Most single people, regardless of whether or not they were interested in dating, felt little to no pressure from their friends and family to seek a romantic partner. Young people, however, were under significant pressure compared to the sample average or older age groups. 53% of single people aged 18 to 29 thought there was at least some pressure from society on them to find a partner, compared to 42% for people aged 30 to 49, 32% for people aged 50 to 64, and 21% for people aged 50 to 64.<ref name="Brown-2020a" />