What is it like for young late 20-somethings who are poor to even think about marriage? They can’t afford anything nice, like a wedding, a trip, a house. They probably think, why bother with marriage? Only the very religious would see a point to it.
I went to a wedding of two late 20-somethings who are wealthy. From wealthy families, each has a well paid job. It was like going into the past. All the trimmings, must have been close to $100,000 for the damn DAY. Then the honeymoon to the Amalfi coast. Who can do these things any more?
I actually think we were better off in a lot of ways when late 20s somethings weren’t prepared to spend heavily on weddings, trips, etc. If that’s what’s motivating them to marriage, that’s not great either.
It used to be that men had to have an awareness that they’d be able to support a wife and the kid(s) that could come from marriage, but not necessarily with a luxury lifestyle. High income men tend to work upwards of 60 hours a week in their prime years, and even working class men ought to be able to support such with such hours in their prime years, if needed.
With a wife working as well and birth control to delay kiddos, even minimum wage types can typically afford a decent one-bedroom apartment now.
If anything IMO millennials suffer from expecting the comforts of their parents’ lifestyle right off—and that didn’t used to be the case.
Somebody did a research paper, The Relationship between Wedding Expenses and Marriage Duration, and they found that marriages that begin with a big expensive wedding, are more likely to end in divorce.
This makes sense to me, as it's generally the bride who wants the big "dream wedding". A bride who demands an expensive wedding, is less likely to be satisfied with what her real-world husband will be able to provide for her.