But the numbers don’t lie, even if our Instagram feeds do.
For years, we’ve been force-fed the same sickening story. Young Americans aren’t getting married because they simply can’t afford to. The economy is disastrous, wages are too low, and housing costs require selling a kidney.
If we could just inject another thirty grand into everyone’s bank accounts, young lovers would magically sprint down the aisle. It’s a beautiful, thoroughly victim-centric fairy tale that makes everyone nod along. It’s also absolute nonsense.
Government handouts and cultural decay have combined to tell men that effort is for suckers.
A recent report from the Institute for Family Studies dismantles the narrative. The data reveals that the slow-motion suicide of American marriage has less to do with stagnant pay and much more to do with a mind virus that has convinced an entire generation they are too poor to love.
We love blaming the system because it absolves us of our crippling neuroses. But the numbers don’t lie, even if our Instagram feeds do.