Lonely Old Men When younger people notice the sex ratio in late adulthood, they often pity the old women, many of whom are widows living alone and unable to find (or not interested in finding) a mate. That is not true of older men: Most are married, and if their wives die they remarry far more often than women do. But the data suggests that older women are closer to their friends, their relatives, and especially to their children than older men are. Indeed, their social network may be the reason they are far less likely to commit suicide or die of a heart attack than men their age.