Well this part of the article, buried in the jump section of the online article at the Lds church-owned newspaper, shows that the Lds church probably overestimates its church membership by almost half (3.2 million actual as of '08 vs. their figures, which includes all "jack Mormons," @ 5.9 million)
From the article: According to the report, "young men in the Mormon Culture Region are defecting at substantially higher rates than young women, creating a growing gender imbalance and a surplus of Mormon women. In Utah, self-identified Mormon women outnumber men by a ratio of 3 to 2."
This ratio, coupled with other news coming out of the Lds church this year, shows that it may be almost impossible for many Lds women (particularly those over 30) to find an active Mormon husband!
See:
* Mormon men waiting longer to marry, worrying church officials
* LDS Church drops 'student' wards, stakes for 'YSA' units
This is also greatly exacerbated by the reality that men across the board (Mormon and non-Mormon) are delaying marriage...which, in turn, is why at the April 2011 General Conference the Mormon church holds twice a year, they made a huge pitch for young men to marry...
See: LDS Church drops 'student' wards, stakes for 'YSA' units
From that Spring 2011 article: Elder Snow noted the new YSA unit restructuring does provide enhanced social opportunities for the young adults, acknowledging the emphasis on pursuing marriage and family as a key topic from the church's recent general conference. "We'd like to see them happily married and creating families," he said, adding "we had some pretty direct messages in conference — they weren't sugar-coated."
Of course, this doesn't address the over-30 crowd, where Lds women have even slimmer marriage prospects. A BYU Web site, citing a Goodman and Heaton study, said:
Furthermore, single LDS men and women are "mismatched on salient demographic characteristics. Single women over 30 have higher levels of education, occupation, and Church activity than single men. For example, never-married women over 30 are more likely to have four years of college (42 percent compared to 18 percent for never-married men) and professional occupations (70 percent compared to 38 percent)" (Goodman and Heaton, pp. 90-91). Goodman and Heaton conclude that "marriage to an active male is demographically impossible for many active single females over 30. And even when there are available males, they may possess other characteristics that rule them out as potential mates.” (p. 91)
Source: http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Single_Adults
Lds women. Be realistic. If you want to marry, you're going to have to start looking at a guy outside the Mormon faith.
Tell us. Would the Mormon gods, if they wanted your families to live forever as a family, make it virtually impossible for so many Lds women to either find...
...a faithful Mormon male who actually wants to marry?
...a faithful Mormon male period? (One who is actually "celestial material"?)
And even if you find plenty of faithful single males in your ward, are they (a) a personality match? and (b) "close enough" within your age bracket?
You’ve both posted in the past on overbloated Lds church stats. This article seems to confirm that.
creating a growing gender imbalance and a surplus of Mormon women. In Utah,
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Yes, well, we know what the Mormon gods said last time this happened...
P M
The reason for the disparity is that the women don’t have to work overtime, work a 2nd job, and get an ulcer trying to figure out how to raise 7 kids on a K-Mart salary.
And, living in Utah myself, add in the incredible peer pressure that the men are under to keep up with the Joneses and appear wealthy when they’re not. No wonder so many guys are throwing in the towel. Most jobs have completely chopped overtime and finding something on the side is near impossible.
I hope someone didn't waste TOO much of their money on studying the OBVIOUS!
I see why some men would want to be part of such a paternalistic organization; women not so much.