Gentlemen, what if your greatest seductive asset was ultimately your lack of a prestigious degree? Yes, you read that right! The booming practice of hypogamy sees women, ever more educated and independent, turning to partners with so-called “inferior” social profiles. It’s a little revolution in love, the antithesis of traditional homogamy.
Photo N Voitkevich
For those of you who have a complex about your lack of education and culture, who are depressed because you didn’t get the degrees of your dreams, and who are therefore moving down the social ladder, take comfort. It won’t stop you from potentially meeting a woman higher up the “hierarchy”.
Remember, too, that clothes don’t make the man, diplomas aren’t proof of intelligence, and culture can be acquired if you want it (unlike a good brain that understands everything). Rest assured, you have every chance of seducing an intelligent woman, whether through your sense of humor or your seductive wit.
When homogamy reigns supreme
Traditionally, “those who look alike, come together”. This popular proverb seems to be borne out by INSEE figures published on November 23: in France, 42% of women in couples occupy a lower social position than their partner. Conversely, only 20% of men have a lower social position than their female partner. This majority trend is called “homogamy” and has remained stable since the 2000s, according to Erwan Pouliquen, head of unit at INSEE’s employment division. Basically, it’s the classic pattern we’ve been observing for years.
Social homogamy
According to an INSEE study published in November 2023, around 40% of couples live with someone from the same social group, a phenomenon known as social homogamy.
But beware, gentlemen, a new development is reshuffling the cards in the love game: welcome to hypogamy!
Hypogamy: the trend seducing modern women
Forget the cliché of the secretary who marries the boss, or the housewife who lives off her husband. Today’s new generation of women is better educated, more ambitious and economically independent, and no longer hesitates to choose partners who are less qualified, or even less well-off. According to Christine Schwartz, professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin, quoted by The Atlantic, the proportion of American couples sharing the same level of education has fallen from 47% in the early 2000s to 44.5% in 2020. More importantly, among “mixed” unions in terms of education, 62% were hypogamous in 2020, compared with just 39% in 1980.
Female hypergamy
The same INSEE study indicates that 42% of women in couples occupy a lower social position than their spouse, while this situation concerns only 20% of men.
In the United States, the trend is spectacular. Benjamin Goldman of Cornell University confirms this: just 2.3% of marriages in the generation born in 1930 involved a woman with a degree and a man with less education. This figure soared to 9.6% for those born in the 1980s. This little marital revolution is not confined to America, but is spreading throughout the world, France included.
Evolution of hypogamy
An analysis published by Le Figaro in April 2025 reports that in the United States, the proportion of marriages in which the woman is more highly educated than the man has risen from 2.3% for generations born in 1930 to 9.6% for those born in 1980.
Photo Kate Gundareva
Why is hypogamy so appealing?
First reason: the spectacular rise of women in higher education. By 2021, there will be 1.6 million more female than male students in the United States. This demographic reality mechanically creates a shortage of men of equivalent educational status.
But Yale sociologist Clara Chambers points out an essential nuance: despite this educational inversion, female graduates continue to favor men with stable or higher incomes than their own. Money remains a stubborn glass ceiling.
Homogamy among executives
According to the Observatoire des inégalités, 38.5% of senior executives live with a female senior executive, while only 2.8% of blue-collar workers live with a female senior executive.
Paradoxically, in these hypogamous couples, men without high qualifications but with comfortable incomes come out on top. Stephanie H. Murray, a journalist at The Atlantic, even points to situations where the male salary enables women to finance their higher education. Even when adjusted for inflation, these men’s incomes tend to rise. Conversely, men without degrees, who are single or married to less-educated women, see their income decline sharply. Thus, women with diplomas prefer men without diplomas but who are financially well-off, accentuating the economic disparities between men without diplomas.
When hypogamy gets the buzz
Hypogamy has no shortage of media examples. Take the example of French President Emmanuel Macron, husband of Brigitte Macron, older and initially more socially established. Across the Atlantic, celebrities like Oprah Winfrey or Serena Williams, financially superior to their spouses, exemplify this new normal. Even in popular TV series and films, more and more plots feature these atypical couples, reinforcing the social acceptance of the phenomenon.
Consequences and challenges
However, hypogamy is not without consequences. It can sometimes create tensions within the couple due to social perception, particularly when the man feels diminished by his partner’s success. According to many couple therapists, the major challenge for these couples is to balance the power dynamic to avoid frustration and resentment.
Some studies also indicate that these couples are often confronted with more family or social pressure to justify their choices, pressure that is even greater when the educational or financial gap is particularly marked.
Photo Mart Production
The last word
Hypogamy is much more than just a trend: it’s a veritable mutation of modern relationship codes. What if prestigious diplomas are losing their value in the love market? Gentlemen, perhaps it’s time to add “sense of humor”, “financial ease” or simply “self-confidence” to the top of your romantic CV. Let’s hear it!
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