Marriage Rates Among Latinas Are Plummeting And TBH, We’re Here For It

Recent studies show a startling decline in women’s marriage rates in the United States. In fact, when it comes to our community, the National Center for Family & Marriage research found that Latinas have experienced a 33% decline in marriage rates since the 1950s. Today, approximately 43% of U.S. Latinas are married, and the percentage of marriage in women of all demographics is the lowest it has ever been.

But why?

Over on TikTok, many Latinas are sharing their experiences about refusing to settle when it comes to marriage. For example, user @lathoniasalgado posted a video describing, “Things I would not settle for as a Latina… number one, el machismo.” Hear, hear!

The TikTok user speaks for many women in nuestra comunidad, explaining: “I’m not going to wake up at 3 AM to make you a sandwich… As if it’s so hard spreading mayonnaise on bread.”

“We live in a world where women work, too, and sir, your hands aren’t going to fall off if you grab a broom,” she added. “Both of us are going to work in our jobs, and both of us are going to contribute to house chores. Clean, cook, and everything.”

“If I’m also going to work, I’m also going to feel tired.” Aha. With this TikTok video, the user hits the nail on the head. Are women less likely to settle for marriage— or machismo— as their financial independence and employment rate rise? With several studies pointing to a decrease in the Latina marriage rate, we may be seeing a change in priorities. Yes, your tía might still ask you, “Y el anillo pa’ cuando?” at Nochebuena, but cultural patterns are experiencing a major shift.

The rate of marriage in U.S.-born Latinos has drastically decreased in the last 30 years

Other studies show a similar decline in Latino marriage rates as a whole. A 2022 study published by The Graduate Center of The City University of New York’s Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies outlines how marriage is a very different topic depending on your race or heritage.

As per the study, which took a deep dive into three historically Latino Brooklyn neighborhoods, 45% of Latino men and 46% of Latina women were married in 2017. For context, this compares to 58% of Asian men, 63% of Asian women, 52% of non-Hispanic caucasian men, and 55% of non-Hispanic caucasian women. Meanwhile, the non-Hispanic Black community has lower marriage rates than Latinos. In fact, their rates are 32% in men and 28% in women.

Overall, marriage is decreasing no matter where you look. The U.S. population of married people decreased by 10% in the last 30 years. For Latinos, this decrease is even more striking. While 50% of Latino men and 59% of Latinas were married in 1990, those numbers changed to 28% and 35% by 2017.

So, in the words of Cardi B, “What is the reason?!”

Sure, some Latina TikTok users joke that their decision to stay single is all because of Paquita la del Barrio. And while that’s definitely a valid reason in our eyes, it usually runs deeper than that.

As per CUNY’s study, marriage and finances go hand-in-hand. Statistics from 2017 showed that well-off Latinos were more likely to wed than those in poverty. Shockingly, only 28% of Latinas in poverty were married— this rate increased to 52% in Latinas better off economically.

When thinking about finances, this makes sense. Economic burdens contribute to psychological distress and leave little room for much else.

Many Latinas are choosing to focus on their studies, careers, and personal goals before marriage. As one TikTok user posted, she is happily a “child-free woman in a Latinx family that wants to marry in her 30s or 40s.” Yet another Latina TikTok user wrote that she does not “want to marry or have kids until [her] 30s and go to grad school first.”

Interestingly, Latinos who decide to stay unmarried are more likely to have been born in the U.S. than abroad. U.S.-born Latino marriage rates are dropping in both men and women— but the marriage rate for Latinos born in other countries has stayed between 58% and 62% since 1990.

For many Latinas in the U.S., straying away from marriage is about preferring to be unmarried than “unhappily married”:

Many of us have stopped focusing on finding a Prince Charming— or have felt disillusioned with machismo. As one TikTok user hilariously posted, she is not “claiming [the] energy” of wanting to marry into machismo culture:

Yet another reason Latina marriage rates may be lowering? Many Latinos continue to keep the tradition of multigenerational living arrangements, A.K.A. still living with your parents as an adult. While this can be stressful, in other instances, it can actually be quite comfortable.

As yet another TikTok user posted, “When people ask me why I don’t [want to] get married/move out… My parents do everything for me, and I have no shame.” Who else?!

What do you think about these Latina marriage statistics?