Abstract: Older unmarried men were one of the phenomena of the imbalance of population gender structure, and the social risk and harm brought by it can not be ignored. Especially in rural areas, under the influence of the traditional patriarchal ideology and the outflow of a large number of young women, there were more and more unmarried men. Due to the lack of support and dependence from their own families, most of them were faced with the dilemma of lonely life, which brought hidden dangers to the healthy and stable development of local society. Based on the questionnaire survey of older men in rural areas in Zhumadian city of Henan province,this study systematically investigated the survival conditions of older unmarried men in rural areas, clarified the survival dilemma and its cause, and put forward countermeasures and suggestions to improve the survival conditions of this group.

Key words: rural areas, older unmarried men, survival dilemma