Culture and Social Issues

Why Are You Still Single? The Biggest Reason Behind Gen Z’s Fear Of Marriage Might Surprise You

Interior of a Catholic Church (Joe Ravi, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Shifting views surrounding the riskiness of long-term commitment could be at the heart of why marriage seems less desirable to many members of Generation Z.

Studies show that younger generations increasingly view money as a barrier to love. For example, 78% of Zoomers surveyed said that someone’s salary will determine whether they can find “true love,” versus 32% of Boomer respondents, The New York Post reported July 28. This comes as the average age of marriage has risen to around 31 for men and 28 for women in 2025. In the 1960s, this was around 23 and 21, respectively.

However, Heritage Foundation research assistant Liana Graham told the Daily Caller News Foundation that financial problems are only one component of why Zoomers are delaying marriage.

“While costs have risen, so have economic standards and expectations going into marriage,” Graham said. “The ‘cornerstone’ view of marriage—a framework that views marriage as a foundation for adult life—has been largely replaced with a ‘capstone’ view which sees marriage as a final step on the road to success.”

Graham said that this capstone view raises the “bar of entry for early marriage” by combining changing economic realities — like the average cost of a home — with changing cultural expectations — like homeownership being a prerequisite for marriage.

The median sales price of a house exceeds $400,000, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Additionally, only 38.3% of Zoomers bought their first home by age 25, compared to 42.5% of Gen Xers, and 44.4% of Boomers, according to a January study by Redfin.

The War Of The Sexes

The growing ideological divide between men and women is another “significant component” to Generation Z’s declining marriage rates, Graham said.

Harris-voting women ranked getting married at 11 out of 13 and having children at 12 out of 13 as a priority, according to a 2025 survey by NBC. Meanwhile, Trump-voting men ranked marriage as priority number 4 and having children as 1.

Narratives about the opposite sex on social media may be fueling this divide.

“Mainstream feminism often peddles a ‘one-size-fits-all’ message that frames marriage and family as opposed to women’s flourishing, especially on social media,” Graham said. “While social media messaging can become extreme—framing men and marriage as ‘the problem’—a lot of the influence seems to be more subtle than that: messages that young and early marriage is naïve, wasteful, and risky.”

However, Graham warns that social media-driven risk aversion isn’t just scaring women away from early marriage, but men too through involuntary celibate (incel) culture — an online subculture of men who express an inability to form romantic attachments toward women over various grievances with them.

Around 63% of men and 34% of women ages 18-29 reported being single as of 2023, according to the Pew Research Center.

“Incel culture taps into the same kind of messaging, marketing marriage as a trap for men that fails to benefit them as much as it benefits women,” Graham said.

Graham said that dating apps are another form of social media making it harder for men and women to commit to long-term relationships by fostering a culture that “de-prioritizes in-person interactions in exchange for superficial online encounters.”

“Dating apps often invoke a paradox of choice: too many options might lead to decision fatigue,” Graham said. “Swiping through a seemingly never-ending catalog of potential suitors can therefore cause decision paralysis and reduced commitment. While this puts men at a disadvantage if they outnumber women on the app, the paradox of choice affects both men and women.”

Uncle Sam As Your Wingman

Graham said that cultural and policy solutions can help reduce the “real and perceived” risks of marriage to Zoomers.

“On the policy side, lawmakers can consider solutions such as those offered in Heritage’s special report, Saving America by Saving the Family. These suggestions fit within three general categories: stop punishing family formation, restoring the American dream, and actively supporting marriage and working families,” Graham said.

The January report suggests axing marriage penalties in the welfare system and tax code, promoting family and marriage tax credits, and establishing Newlywed Early Starter Trust (NEST) accounts.

NEST accounts are a proposed extension to the Trump Accounts aiming to provide individuals a $2,500 deposit in the form of a tax-free bond that’d be dispersed three years after marriage for those who marry before the average age of marriage, according to the report.

However, Graham warned that while the government has a role in supporting marriage and the family — like bringing the costs of homes down, policy alone won’t provide the solution to declining marriage.

“Of foremost importance is correcting cultural messaging, common on social media, that frames early marriage as a trap, mistake, or a ‘waste’ of a man or woman’s talents and resources,” Graham said. “Similarly, messaging that frames autonomy and independence as essential to flourishing are corrosive to a union view of marriage, which emphasizes that husband and wife enjoy a shared identity, project, and future.”

“This requires mutual dependence and vulnerability, which are foreign and fearful concepts to an ‘anxious generation’ like Gen-Z. Subtle messaging that de-prioritizes marriage should be made explicit, so that young people who desire marriage can accurately weigh tradeoffs of delaying dating and marriage in pursuit of career and education,” Graham told DCNF.