iDiz Incorporated

When was the last time you heard of a study that really told you something you didn’t know?

Well the PEW Research Center, “a nonpartisan ‘fact tank’ that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world”, just released a study that shows that men benefit economically from being married. How about that?

They compared 1970 to 2007 and looked at U.S. born married people. What they found was that more women than men graduated from college and our earnings have grown 44% compared with 6% for men. Most importantly, it seems we women are dumbing down our requirements in a partner – more women marry men who are less educated and, not a big surprise as a result, earn less. I guess we’re sacrificing money and education for fun. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

When I entered college in the 1970s, people still joked about women going to get their MRS degrees. The thinking was that you used your smarts to get into a good college so you could snag an equally smart (read successful) partner. I have a feeling if I mentioned this MRS degree to my daughter (a college sophomore) she’d look at my like I had 3 heads. Today, more women are  focusing on their educations and careers – they are rising to the top in the professional world. And credit unions mirror that reality perfectly. Congratulations.

Are women truly settling for less in their partners? Are are we focusing more on our own independence? Demanding more from our careers? Maybe someone will do a study and tell us.