New Study Shows Girls Are Now Less Likely Than Boys To Say They Want To Get Married

The adage goes: Every little girl dreams about their wedding day! But…do they, really? According to new data, many young girls actually don’t!

According to a recent study by Pew Research Center, only about 67% of U.S. high school seniors in 2023 said they expect to marry someday, down from 80% in 1993. Where things get interesting is when boys were polled with the same line of questioning.

Among 12th graders, 74% of boys say they expect to marry someday, while 61% of 12th grade girls expect to do the same. In 1993, that figure was 83% for girls and 76% for boys.

The share of boys saying this is virtually unchanged over the 30 years. But the share among girls dropped by 22 percentage points.

The survey also asked 12th graders how likely they are to do certain things if they get married.

A smaller share of 12th graders now than in 1993 say they’re very likely to stay married to the same person for life if they do tie the knot. About half (51%) say this, compared with 59% in 1993. The share of 12th graders who say they’re very likely to want to have kids in this situation has also decreased over this time span (48% in 2023 vs. 64% in 1993).

According to Pew, the drop in the share of 12th graders who say they want to get married reflects shifting views among girls.

This new study comes on the heels of another eye-opening data reveal from The 2023 Girls Index, which showed that the majority of girls in high school don’t feel that boys their age respect them.

“Seventy-six percent of girls don’t even feel that boys respect girls,” Director of Women and Leadership Susan Madsen at Utah State University told KSL News. “…you’re not going to want to marry and have in your life someone that you feel doesn’t respect women and girls. And maybe that’s becoming more important to young women these days, to be respected.”

She said that although we use language saying different responsibilities like housework or childcare are equally important, girls are not seeing the same amount of respect towards these responsibilities.

“There is a higher appetite for young women today to feel respected, to feel like their mind matters and their heart matters,” Madsen said. “I think a lot of young women want to use their intellects, want to go to college, want to learn, want to be doing work that values their minds.”