This demographic will represent a bigger proportion of men as we go deeper into the 2020s.

These will be their different profiles:

1) THE BROKEN DIVORCED MAN

He invested a lot in his previous marriage, but was left hanging and went through hell in the divorce proceedings and battle for the custody of the child(ren). One, if not the most challenging event in his life, with even potentially suicidal thoughts.

He has been burned so severely that the scar will remain there forever. The emotional ransacking overtook the subsequent financial one in his personal balance sheet. He promised himself never to go through this again.

He is a spent fighter and now rebuilds himself around his work and his hobbies, getting back to his feet. He steers clear of women after seeing that his previous investment, which he poured himself wholeheartedly into, was torn to shreds.

May even settle for a dog/cat.

2) THE “PETER PAN” GUY

He has never been in a marriage and is in a relatively good financial place in life, but not always. He will entertain women for what they are: a distraction.

He will either be someone who has had one or a few heartbreaks, who eventually decided to focus on him, to date non seriously and eventually became emotionally unavailable and jaded through life experience.

Or

He was never inclined to have a family and kids, and has always been that guy. You will find him with younger women and most likely be shamed for not “growing up” by his female peers. He realised that even if he could have been inclined to a more traditional set-up, the current environment does not make it a respectable or constructive outcome.

3) THE LEFTOVER

This man never had any particular success with women and is living in somewhat of a fantasy land where he imagines what his life could have been had he had the chance to settle down with a decent one.

His “heartbreak” is even more pernicious. He most likely had one or many from a situation never panning out, and lives in a world of what-ifs and frustrations.

Where the “relationships” he had were only in his head, with rosy picturing of what life could have been with that specific other, only to be reminded of the daily reality that he had not actually lived that life, drowning him in limerence. He may still hope, but eventually resigned himself to accept his fate.

4) THE HOPE STRATEGIST

This one is the right target for the buzzer-beater women.

He keeps on believing that something better can come along and will jump into the abyss at the first opportunity. He will remarry quickly after one or two divorces.

He will most likely go in with a leftover woman because they now give him the time of day, but won’t think twice, as he was never really interested in women like the average guy, and will invest in good faith in the adventure.

There are other types, but the above 4 will represent the vast majority of the pie.