I see where you are coming from, I genuinely take it in good faith. There's just this constant pressure to be this or that at certain stages of our lives, especially in the asian culture I am part of. I've managed to avoid these all my life but lately I've been falling for it as well.
> I have been in poverty in my life, and I feel fortunate that we were able to escape it.
Genuinely happy to hear this. :) It gives a lot of hope.
> I have my own theories, but I'd be happy to know yours
It's a cultural thing, I have friends who haven't married yet because they feel they can't afford a family with their current circumstances. Here marriages are a family thing, so the parents need to approve. And no father or mother will send their daughter to such a person when they have more options available to them. You could live the frugal life or the glamorous instagram life people are brainwashed with. Everyone is running in a constant state of survive or die mentality because no one has a safety net to fall back to.
I am not saying all are like that, there are independent strong women/men but they are dime a dozen.