Given my career as an electronic engineer, I'm unlikely to make lawyer-style money unless I strike entrepreneurial gold
That's me too, and that is exactly what I did (started my own business). A lot of pilots are in "IT" in some way.
Well I've found plenty of interesting men in the scene.
It's often not obvious from the pprune nickname if it's a man or a woman
A female pilot would do very well indeed on the social front - as indeed she could do in just about every other male-dominated activity.
I don't regard this thread as negative. It's important to identify the issues if one is to address them.
I remain of the view that most people (that are at all able to fly i.e. have the budget and the time) who give up do so because flying does not compete on the hassle to reward ratio against other activities.
If it did compete successfully, the arrival of children should not stop you flying. It takes only a few hours to do a quick trip somewhere. If you are a bloke then your lady can look after the kids while you fly, and in return you can look after them while she goes off and has her gurlz' night out or whatever
If the arrival of children changes your family life to a constant mad panic (which is often the case) then not being able to fly will be the least of your problems, I am afraid. I have 2 kids so I know.
Flying does contain a lot of hassle on the ground, and different people get different amounts. A renter gets no ownership hassle but is usually stuck with flying old junk which he can't take away on long away trips, which takes out most utility value. An owner with a nice plane who rents hangarage will probably have the most hassle of all, but then he is probably the most motivated in the first place. Probably the best common situation is somebody who enjoys bimbling in some basic plane and who is based on a farm strip with a barn. The very best is your own plane, your own runway, your own hangar, but that's very hard to achieve.