Not a single other source replicates this 29-point gap, but instead gaps of around 10-15%, which can reasonably be attributed to age gaps.
People should know by now that the stats that go viral are rarely the most accurate ones.
The sample sizes of these other surveys are roughly comparable to Pew's.
The NHIS has a far larger sample size but is limited by the fact that it doesn't capture non-cohabiting relationships. But it shows that cohabiting young women were overrepresented in the Pew survey.
The most popular explanation for the gap is covert 'Chad harems': women *think* they're in an exclusive relationship with Chad, but *actually*...
The same Pew survey leaves little room for this explanation, as 3/4ths of the gap was driven by cohabitation and marriage.
The only category where this theory could plausibly apply is the more ambiguous third category, where the average gap across all surveys is 4%.
Finally, there's nothing new about most young men being single, nor about singleness gaps the size seen in the more realistic estimate.
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