Bachelor Farmers in France

Abstract

This article uses some evolutionary psychological micro hypotheses to explain the high number of bachelor farmers in France. The authors argue that three factors are responsible for farmers remaining single: their low average income, the migration of females away from rural areas and a steady rise in the divorce rate. According to the theory of sexual selection, the authors can expect females for whom wealth is a criterion in their choice of partner to migrate where the average income is higher. Growth in the number of divorces further increases the scarcity of younger females. The authors then show that when the divorce rate is high, young farmers are even more affected by the phenomenon of bachelorhood.