Lack of 'economically-attractive' men to blame for decline in marriage rates

There is a minimum threshold that a partner must make in order for it to be economically advantageous due to "doubling up" and sharing resources. Below this threshold, the partner is not pulling their weight relative to median living expenses.

That threshold is about 38-40k USD as of 2025.

About 40-55 percent of single men in the US meet that threshold.

So - there is probably not a serious shortage of "economically advantageous" men. Where marriage would make perfect sense.

But I don't doubt there is a shortage of "economically attractive men". Women seem to prefer a partner that makes the same or more than them. And the same goes with level of education... oh and they must be tall, oh and ideally a symmetrical face with a happy family ... this pool of men is diminishingly small.