Women do not marry because they became rich

It is well known that women are less likely to marry in recent years. In most developed countries, the marriage rate has been declined constantly for some decades. There are several reasons for an explanation. But, increased income is crucial, according to a recent study.

The Atlantic: How Earnings Influence a Woman’s Decision to Wed

According to the researchers, improved wage in women can account for 20% of the decline in marriage for these three decades. The earning power of women having been improved is rather relative than absolute. It means that some women need no more rely on men's money for daily living, resulting in hesitating to marry.

What Women Want: Family Formation and Labor Market Responses to Marriage Incentives

Indeed, women had been discriminated in working places. At present, the situation is different, even not completely. It is no more rare that we see a female CEO in the US.

The author of this article examined the possibility of reverse causation. Thus, women who did not marry might earn more money. In this study, this hypothesis was denied. On the other hand, some women in Japan are still difficult to keep working after pregnancy. Therefore, it is possible in Japan that wage was increased in women because women tended not to get married. Even if it is partially true, it seems obvious that financial dependence of women resulted in the lowered rate of marriage also in Japan.

The fact married women are declining means married men are also declined. On the contrary of women, men with low income tend not to get married. In Japan, young men hesitate to marry unless their salary is raised to an enough amount so that they can take care of their spouse. As women became independent from men, men look to be still occupied in an illusion of the dominating husband.