In today’s Finshots, we try to imagine an economy with fewer men. Yup, just that.

But here’s a quick sidenote before we begin. We’re on the lookout for enthusiastic Insurance Advisors to join our team at Ditto Insurance! No finance or insurance background? No worries. We’ll train you from the ground up. Click here to apply.

With that out of the way, let’s get on to today’s story.

The Story

Ever imagined a world with fewer men?

Okay, that might sound like a plot for a sci-fi movie. But recent scientific buzz about the shrinking male Y chromosome nudged us to ask this very question.

The gist of this discussion is simple. It says that the Y chromosome, which is like an instruction book in human cells and tells the body to grow as a male, is shrinking. Over the last 300 million years, it’s lost about 97% of its original 1,400-odd genes, leaving just 45 behind. And if this continues, it could disappear entirely in the far-off future — think millions of years.

So, what does that mean, you ask?

Well, it could lead to a future where only female offspring are born. And if things continue this way, the male-determining chromosome (Y) might vanish in around 11 million years.

Now, you’re probably thinking, “Wait, does this mean that males will disappear from the earth?”

Not so fast!

Nature has a knack for adapting. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences talks about spiny rats, for instance. These rats faced a similar situation where their Y chromosomes started shrinking too. But instead of vanishing, they developed a new mechanism to determine maleness within their chromosomes. So, male spiny rats didn’t go extinct. Their genetic system just found a new way to decide who’s male.

And humans could potentially follow a similar path where nature finds a clever workaround. But still, there could be a time when female births become more common, which got us thinking — What would this mean for the economy?

Sure, you might say, “Hey Finshots, that’s millions of years away. Why bother thinking about it now?”

Well, there’s a good reason.

You see, this shrinking Y chromosome phenomenon isn’t entirely new. Rewind about 4,000 to 8,000 years to the Neolithic age, when humans transitioned from hunter-gatherers to farming societies, and you’ll see that something similar happened. There was a significant drop in male genetic diversity during this period.

Researchers call it the Neolithic Y-chromosome bottleneck. And for a long time, no one had a clue why it happened. But in 2015, researchers found a connection between this bottleneck in Y chromosomes and the rise of economic development.

Yup!

Unlike hunting and gathering, agriculture in the Neolithic period allowed people to store surplus food and resources for the first time. This led to the creation of social hierarchies where some individuals and families gained control over resources like land and livestock, concentrating wealth in the hands of a few. And since this was a male-dominated society too, the wealthier men who controlled these resources had greater access to mates, often through marrying multiple women. Meanwhile, men with less wealth and status had fewer opportunities to pass on their genes. So, the end result was that a small group of powerful men fathered most of the children, leading to a drop in Y-chromosome diversity.

Now, the shrinking Y chromosome today and the Neolithic Y-chromosome bottleneck aren’t exactly the same thing, but both involve a significant reduction in male genetic diversity. And while they occur for different reasons and over vastly different timescales, there’s an interesting connection between the two.

And it’s this connection that got us thinking — What would the economy look like if things were different? What if it started leaning more in favour of women, or even became dominated by them?

Well, there’s a lot to unpack here because the roots of gender imbalance and inequality go way back. Historically, men didn’t always dominate the economy. Roles were often more egalitarian in prehistoric societies, with both men and women contributing to the community in different ways. But that started to shift during the Neolithic age, we spoke of earlier.

One theory suggests that everything changed with the rise of agriculture. People began to settle down, accumulate resources and defend their land. Power naturally shifted to the physically stronger males, and family life began to centre around them. Fathers, sons, uncles and grandfathers started living close to one another, and property was passed down through the male line.

Slowly but surely, this chipped away at women’s autonomy, and patriarchy took root!

This was backed by Researchers at the Sapienza University of Rome who found that agriculture was linked to patrilocal societies, where couples settled in the husband’s home or community. And this ultimately shaped the gender roles we’re familiar with today — men became the breadwinners, while women were assigned to managing the household.

But it wasn’t just societal norms that shaped these roles. Demographics played a part too. Since the mid-1960s, there have typically been more men than women in the world. Even today, there are 101 males for every 100 females globally. And while that might not sound like a huge difference, this long streak of demographic imbalance, combined with social factors like child marriage and pulling girls out of education, have created a landscape where women have fewer opportunities, especially in developing countries.

Yet, when given a chance, women can fill the gap in most cases.

You could look at Ukraine as an example. After Russia’s invasion in 2022, many men were redirected to fighting the war, creating a shortage of male workers in tough, physically demanding jobs. To address this, the Ukrainian government lifted a law that had previously barred women from working in dangerous conditions, including underground mines. Despite Ukraine having more women than men (97 males for every 100 females to be precise), these opportunities were initially off-limits because the jobs were seen as too challenging for women. But with fewer men around, women have stepped in and taken on these roles.

So, having more women in the workforce could change how they’re treated and open up more opportunities. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that the economy will be better or worse. It just might be different.

Because just as wealth concentration among men in the Neolithic period shaped societal roles and limited opportunities for others, more women in the workforce could shift power dynamics and reshape traditional gender roles and economic structures in ways we haven’t seen before, no? Maybe it could lead to more inclusive decision-making, more diverse perspectives in leadership, and more approaches to economic growth.

Plus, it’s not just about the economy and jobs. Even in business and entrepreneurship, the representation of women is still lacking.

Female-founded companies in the US, for instance, raised around $44 billion in venture capital last year, which is just about a quarter of the total VC (venture capital) funding. But if you look at companies with only women founders, they got a measly $3 billion, which is just about 2% of the total.

That’s odd, especially when you consider that a 2018 analysis by Boston Consulting Group found that startups founded or co-founded by women actually performed better, generating 10% higher revenue over five years compared to those led by men.

So then, why the funding gap?

Well, it could be that investors, whether consciously or not, tend to favour pitches from male entrepreneurs. It’s a bias that runs deep, likely rooted in thousands of years of societal norms. And it’s not just us saying this. Harvard University backs it up with a study of their own.

So yeah, it's an interesting thought experiment. Perhaps, with fewer men, women will find a new place in society.

Although, we truly hope that men don't disappear :P

Until next time…

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