Since the 1950s, marriages have sharply declined. In the 1950s about 70 percent of men and women were married. Now that number is at 50 percent. So, what is the cause of this?

One theory is that there aren’t enough desirable men. One study looked to compare a synthetic spouse, one that was based on partners of married women in the same demographic as the participants demographic, to the available pool of men.

It turns out that these synthetic men had 55 percent higher income, were more educated and were 26 percent more likely to hold a job, than the current pool of men.

These results point to the desire in marriage, or in a male partner, is tied to economic status.

Read more here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/meet-catch-and-keep/201909/is-shortage-desirable-men-blame-fewer-marriages