Incel short for involuntary celibate

This hard-core incel group is indeed growing as a share of the male population. The NSFG’s sample size, over 1,000 never-married men between the ages of 22 and 35 with sufficient questionnaire completion to estimate sexual behavior and reasons for virginity if they have not had sex, is large enough to be decently confident of these results.

But the 68% increase from 2002 to 2015 in the incel share of the male, never-married, 22-35-year-old population is mostly due to a decline in marriage, not never-married men having less sex. Rising involuntary virginity among never-marrieds accounts for around 27 percentage points of the increase, with the other 41 percentage points coming from a declining married share of the population. It may also be that some of these “incels” are males who were formerly, or would formerly have been, religious, and while they no longer abstain for religious reasons, nonetheless they may continue to hold some degree of religious norms regarding “high standards” for a first sexual encounter.

In other words, incels are right to see themselves as part of a novel and fairly extreme change in our society’s sexual behavior, with a growing share of sexless young men. But the big change isn’t a growing share of alpha males hoarding all the sex, nor women suddenly becoming far more choosey amid rising promiscuity; rather, it’s just that marriage is being delayed, which means that rates of marriage-status-controlled celibacy that aren’t historically extremely  unusual result in very unusual rates of total population-wide sexlessness.

But whatever the direct effect of education on never-married men, the primary cause of the rise in sexlessness is simply the increasing delay of marriage. The delay in marriage has numerous causes, of course, but probably the most powerful driver of marital timing also relates to education. Men and women are much less likely to get married while attending school, and across times and countries, an increase in the years of schooling is associated with later age of marriage, though more-educated people do tend to get married eventually. Thus, as more and more schooling becomes necessary for a good middle-class job, marriage gets pushed later and later, leaving more young people (men and women!) companionless and lonely.

• I'm skeptical of data right on the surface. A study that says 0% of married women 22-35  had no sex in the past year just doesn't pass the smell test for me.  I'm sort of willing to believe that men 22-35 who go a year without sex has increased 6% in 8 years just based on the rise of the internet, video game culture, free porn, etc during that period.  There's a whole lot of social interactions that have seen similar declines for similar reasons.  But I'm skeptical about why the number of women who have gone a year without sex would 1) be lower than the number of men and 2) would remain static while the number of sexless men increased.  
  
• I read this study as an advertisement designed by paid marriage promoters to sell marriage as an idea  to men who haven't gotten laid in a while- wow! 0% of married women don't have sex?  I've got to try that!
  

--> @oromagi

Internet does seem to a big factor in social dysfunction.

Millennials and Gen Zers also face more economic insecurity compared to older generations. They have less opportunities to make it with their careers and move away from home early on in life. I'd say that probably contributes to more sexless men and women. 

Polytheist _Witch: Marriage doesn't really have anything to do with religion. I have no idea what a reduction in religion would have to do with marriage

Polytheist _Witch: I don't care what you think I was not talking to you. Just because religion supports marriage doesn't mean marriage is a religious institution, jackass.

RM: Nothing changed on the part of men, what changed is that unlike before, women are demanding more from the men to even get a fucking seat at the table without them ignoring you to text the next guy who turns up.

If you think I'm ignorant, try the dating game. I've met women who literally admit it to me and say 'why not'. I am not a fucking misogynist, I can sexually please women very well and get along with them in daily life (though I'm rather introverted), it's not about frustration at sex, it's about observing the environment. Those that don't adapt will perish, the jungle's just more social media driven than real-life contact driven now.

--> @Shila

Don't you find it weird that RM's mind wished to use his sexual pleasing skills as his example of "adapting in the jungle" when he could have said literally anything else? He didn't even have to bring himself into the discussion and what he's good at, especially not with something so weird.

A few reasons for declines in marriage.

- decline in religiosity among people

- divorce rates and financial risk

- decline in economic opportunities