A study published in the American Journal of Sociology reveals that Americans who do not have personal wealth in the form of cars, savings or financial assets are less likely to marry.
Between 1970 and 2000, the median age of marriage in the United States rose by 4 years, and the number of people who decided to remain single increased by as much as 10%. Low-educated people were even less likely than the rest of the population to marry. The same was true of people of African-American race. "These differences are worrisome because abundant scientific literature suggests that marriage has beneficial effects for children and adults, and if people who are already clearly disadvantaged now marry less, the gap will increase," says Daniel Schneider of Princeton University (USA), co-author of the work. His research has shown that, although having a stable job and a good income is important, there are other factors that also influence when it comes to finding a partner. Specifically, the fact that a person has savings, has bought a car, or has shares increases the probability that they will marry in a specific year, regardless of their employment, up to 2.6%. This effect is more evident in men than in women .
"What a person owns, and not just what they earn or what they know, determines whether or not they will marry," Schenider concludes.
