This fact makes the high levels of singledom in recent years even more remarkable and concerning. Even with strong economic incentives, a large fraction of people really don't want to pair up.
> a large fraction of people really don't want to pair up.
Don't want to pair up, or can't meet/find someone with which to pair up?
Because from your massive oversimplification, you're making it sound like everyone has 50 potential partners knocking on their door daily asking to hook up or get married, and they tell them to get lost so he/she can keep play videogames in peace.
Have you asked single people why they're single to better understand the issue? I think you'll find that most people actually WANT some sort of loving partner in their lives. Otherwise the pet industry wouldn't be so massive in the west if people were so happy living alone without any company.
In my experience, financially savvy/well-off young people usually get an apartment before they get married - they either get it (or a large downpayment) from their parents or they buy one some time in their 20s - but don't get married until their late 20s to 30s.
People of my parents' generation got married way earlier, typically in early to mid 20s, so it was natural for them to build a life together.
Have you seen the statistics? 20-somethings who own a house are super minority right now.
And plus, rich kids with properties from parents money, has nothing to with the growing loneliness epidemic I was discussing on why people don't pair up despite economic pressure to do so.
Forget being single, having a housemate/roommate is so painful that I refused to have one once I was in my late 20s. I’d rather pay a fat chunk of my salary to the landlord than have to deal with someone who created a mold problem by running a humidifier 24x7 because they wanted better skin.
The economic incentives for men are exactly backwards. They're on the hook for alimony/child support in the face of no fault divorce and despite the chants for equal pay, men are still expected to earn more than women if they want to attract a woman.
Marriage is basically economically obsolete at this point and is primarily done for the sake of tradition and tax breaks. In the context of having children, marriage has devolved to a business contract that lasts until the children have left the nest.
Marriage did not devolve, one of its facets has always been a “business” contract. What evolved is that one of parties gained bargaining power, and the other lost bargaining power.
Marriage also has other useful facets, such as a contract to deal with healthcare decisions in case of emergency.
