Shima Baradaran Baughman, Loren Marks; Deseret News
July 11, 2026
In recent years, demographers have observed an alarming trend: American women are giving up on marriage.
According to Pew Research Center data, only about a third of single women are looking for romance — well below that of single men. Meanwhile, a growing cultural consensus treats romantic partnership as optional at best and embarrassing at worst, as fears of divorce loom and the number of Americans who want to remain childless has more than doubled.
