Low U.S. marriage rates linked to lack of ‘economically attractive’ men, study says

A new study by Cornell University cites a shortage of "economically attractive" men as one of the reasons behind the national decline in marriage. The study refers to "mismatches in the marriage market" that could potentially lead to unmarried men remaining unmarried.

With U.S. marriage rates at a 150-year low, researchers compared the incomes of unmarried men with married men of a similar demographic. The study, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, found the group of unmarried men earned less than 58% of their married counterparts.

The study defines economically attractive as someone with a bachelor’s degree or someone who earns at least $40,000 annually.

According to the study’s findings, racial and ethnic minorities, especially black women, face even more of a shortage of potential marital partners. The same goes for unmarried women with either a low or a high socioeconomic status.

In 1960, 72 percent of adults in the U.S. were married, according to Pew Research.

While in 2017, only about 50 percent of Americans ages 18 and older were married.