Money Culture
February 14, 2013
Women in Debt Less Likely to Marry
Women with large student loan balances are less likely to marry than their girlfriends who’ve graduated debt-free, new research shows.
Men, in contrast, are immune to this impact. Their marriage prospects are the same regardless of how much they owe for their education, according to Fenaba Addo, who studied the effect of college and credit card debt in the “marriage market.”
As U.S. college debt outstanding has surpassed the $1 trillion mark, the fallout is widening. Recent graduates complain that paying off their student loans affects their ability to take critical steps to improve their future finances, such as buying a house or saving for retirement. But there are psychological effects too: young adults who carry a lot of debt, for example, are more stressed, even depressed.
It was only a matter of time before student loans started messing with their love lives.
Addo, now a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Population Health Sciences, became interested in the topic as she watched her girlfriends taking on “crazy amounts of debt” to finish college or complete graduate degrees.
Her analysis has also determined that women and men are both more likely to move in with their significant other if they have debt than if they do not. Since being single is expensive, she said, “cohabitation provides a less expensive option” for couples who can split the rent, groceries and utilities.
But the impact on marriage prospects was confined to women in her data set, who were in their late 20s: the probability of marrying falls 4.9 percent for each 1-percentage-point increase in a woman’s dollar value of student loan and credit card debt. And student loan debt is rising at a steady clip every year: 2012 graduates had nearly $29,000 in college loans on average, according to Mark Kantrowitz, who publishes Fastweb.com and tracks debt data for FinAid.org. But loan balances for some graduates can approach $100,000.
Addo suggested various reasons why women in debt “are negatively impacted in the marriage market.” This finding held true when she controlled for education, despite the fact that a college education has been shown to make a woman more likely to marry.
One reason, “unfortunately,” Addo said, is that men often initiate marriage, which means that they can be selective about choosing women who’ve minimized their borrowing. But the marriage culture has also changed dramatically. Some women may be actively “removing themselves from the marriage market, or delaying marriage … until they can make a better-quality match,” she said.
Addo poses the question at the heart of her research findings: “Do women believe that education loans are a negative marker for their marital prospects, or [are men who] view high education loans as a negative … not marrying women with outstanding loans?”
Readers, what do you think?
Unless I miss my guess, many, if not most, of the women with huge balances are going into professions where graduate education is the norm, resulting in higher balances.
And professional women have a harder time finding mates.
My wife and I married when she was 36. She is very much the professional woman, and was still paying off the last of her loans for her MBA.
BTW, Happy Valentines Day!
If the debt is on the three credit reporting agencies’ list, and a negative report submits a low score, then I would (1) contact one of the credit reporting agencies to get a copy of your credit report, (2) contact the consumer complaint agency, and (3) contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to dispute what you do not agree with in the credit report.
“Young adults who carry a lot of debt, for example, are more stressed, even depressed.” I totally agree with this. Even though I didn’t experienced this personally, I can tell that this is true through some of my friends. Having debts at a young age is difficult, especially if they are the ones who support their families. That’s why I agree with your post that women who have debts are less likely to marry because they are probably working hard to pay for their debts. Thank you for post!
I think this is pretty sad, but hopefully it won’t take me forever to pay off my student debt, or I just find someone who doesn’t care one way or the other.
It is important that when we follow our dreams we have to pay attention to our debt. Students can’t sign whatever piece of paper is put in front of them.
I agree with Chuck. If someone has debt because of studying, it probably means they will result with better pay. So, it’s weighted.
Readers, Thank you for the comments. Perhaps you’ll also share this article on your Facebook page!
You’re absolutely right that a college education pays off in higher earnings — $1 million over a lifetime, according to one estimate.
I’ll address the larger issue of debt among young adults in another blog post soon.
Everyone loves it when people come together and share opinions.
Great site, continue the good work!