The US National Bureau of Economic Research found that women with university degrees are increasingly marrying high-earning men who lack higher education. Fortune reported on the study, which noted that the shift narrows the pool of high-earning partners for women without degrees.
Researchers explained that women have earned university degrees at significantly higher rates than men over recent decades. As the supply of degree-holding male partners dropped, educated women turned to men without degrees who maintain high incomes and financial stability.
Shrinking pool for uneducated women
The study found that highest-earning men without diplomas are increasingly marrying university-educated women, and their average incomes have risen in recent years. Consequently, the available pool of financially successful men without degrees for uneducated women has shrunk by roughly half.
Researchers said the trend reflects a shift in marriage criteria away from university diplomas as key status symbols. Instead, actual economic prospects now play a larger role in partner selection.
