The proportion of women not getting married is rising each year. In fact, an American study found that from 1980 to 2010, the proportion of American women who were married fell from 74% to 56%.
So why are many women not getting married these days? Here are a few reasons:
WOMEN ARE BECOMING LESS RELIANT ON MEN FINANCIALLY
A study by Na’ama Shenhav of the University of California found that women’s rising earnings relative to men’s is responsible for about 20% of the decline in the marriage rate. According to the study, with women earning more these days, the decision to marry becomes more dependent on factors like love, social norms, or the desire to start a family unlike in the past where most women married because they were financially reliant on men.
WOMEN ARE FOCUSING MORE ON THEIR CAREER
Women are postponing or even forgoing marriage these days in favour of their career. Combining marriage and a very demanding career could be very challenging and this has forced many women in the past to put their careers on hold or engage in less challenging careers. With women seeing success in their careers as more important these days, the number of women getting married is on the decline.
THERE ARE FEWER MARRIAGEABLE MEN THESE DAYS
The proportion of marriageable men is on the decline and this is also causing the decline in the number of women getting married. With more and more men becoming jobless and lacking prospects these days, many women now prefer to be a single and successful than marry a man who isn’t marriageable.
MANY MEN ARE THREATENED BY SUCCESSFUL WOMEN
Most men feel threatened been with a strong and successful women and with more women getting successful these days, it’s really not surprising that the number of women getting married is declining. Only real men can handle a strong and successful women but there aren’t many real men out there. A man who feels threatened by a woman’s success can’t claim to be a real man.
WOMEN TEND TO MARRY MEN WHO ARE BETTER FINANCIALLY AND HIGHLY EDUCATED
Women naturally tend to marry men who are better financially and highly educated and with more women becoming successful these days, the pool of men to choose from is becoming smaller. There are simply not enough high-earning, highly educated men for all the single ladies and this has forced ladies these days to postpone marriage or even forgo it.
Why do you think more women aren’t getting married these days?