I've been the childless man who has been looking to spend a decent amount of time with a woman and create a girlfriend relationship. In the past, I had openness to cohabitation or marriage but not in recent years. I've been less of a casual relationship guy. That's why I have favored the childless woman. It's still possible to have an extended girlfriend relationship and not cohabit or marry. The cohabit or marriage topic doesn't really become relevant until a much later in an interaction.
A lot of men in their 30s have a time opening for a girlfriend since they can't rely upon their male connections. Most unattached/marginally attached men in their 30s and even 40s have male friends/acquaintances who are mainly married/cohabiting. Married men and cohabiting men don't tend to spend a lot of time with the childless male who is unattached and/or keeps their typical romantic relationship under 2-3 years. The married men are occupied with their suburban house maintenanace, the dogs, and the children if they have them. The never married, childless man who lives in a rental property can't relate to most of that.
Unlike never married-childless women renters, never-married childless men renters don't acquire pets at the same rate.
It seems to me that you're dealing with a specific type of single mom when you deal with single moms. You're not dealing with the mainly Black and Hispanic single moms living in impoverished neighborhoods who are government assistance parasites. You're dealing with the
@BeExcellent type of single mom who is middle class or higher. You're dealing with the single mom who is able to support herself without government assistance and usually has a beta male ex-husband who is paying her child support, sometimes alimony, and is active in the child's life. The mainly minority women single mothers in impoverished neighborhoods have baby daddies who are tattooed dirtbags, mainly absent from their children's lives, and deadbeats who aren't paying child support. That's a different type of single mom.
I would be conversationally challenged in a lot of ways with single moms, even in a casual arrangement. I can't relate to that lifestyle at all. I don't care about what little Janie and Johnny are doing. I can likely get through it, but I am still more able to relate to a childless woman in terms of lifestyle.
You're correct that childless women in their 30s/40s often have excessive demands and expectations. I've seen it in my dealings with childless 30 something women in recent years. For 30 something childless single women, one might think that they'd reduce their demands to offset a decline in their looks. They don't. A childless 35 year old woman is just as demanding as a childless 25 year old. In certain ways, they are even more fussy. The in-shape childless 30-35 year olds are prone to as much early stage flaking as their younger counterparts.
I don't deal with the time restrictions well based on what I desire. I can see how a guy who wants a casual relationship could handle that if he's spinning multiple plates. I would find the coordination of logistics with a single mom difficult in a lot of cases.
