KOCHI: If you are a bachelor in your mid-30s in the state, you have a daunting task ahead to find a life partner as girls are married off early and they prefer someone who’s just two to three years older.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, there was a trend of people getting married late and they were also able to find their partner easy. In the new scenario, male youngsters who prefer to enjoy life on their own for quite some time or earn more money for the future before getting married are the ones most affected, say experts.
According to Fr Roby Kannanchira, director, ChavaraMatrimony.com, earlier the trend was to have an age difference of minimum of 6 to 10 years. But now, both the prospective brides and their parents prefer to have an age difference of 2-5 years maximum and the majority prefer not more than three years’ age gap. ‘Girls registering between the age group 20 - 25 come to 43 per cent and in 25 - 30 range is at 48 per cent. Whereas 61 per cent of the boys register between 25 and 30’, he added.
The girls and boys registering between the age 35 - 40 are 1.4 and 6.4 per cent respectively. Though a substantial increase in registration for these age group is not seen, finding partners for them is difficult. “If they wanted to marry they have to make some adjustments in their requirements like qualification, good job, family background and the looks. One of the reason for the delay in getting married can be the lack of a good financial background’, reckoned Fr Roby Kannanchira.
Dileep Kaitheri, marketing manager, Malayogam, said around 70 per cent of the girls register between the age of 19 and 24 and the same percentage of boys at the age between 27 and 35.
Around 90 per cent of the registration of girls are made by their parents, whereas the boys do it directly. The number of registration of boys above the age of 35 is also increasing. Ironically, those in the late 30s too prefer girls below 30 which will further delay in finding their life partner.
Dr Sandya Cherkil, psychologist at Aster Medcity, said that if there is a trend of late marriage increasing among boys, it may be due to the thought of becoming stable before marriage. There are lots of ideas in the virtual world, which they would like to try their hand at.
“The upper and upper middle class may be those in the category of waiting for a long time. A failed relationship too forces the youngsters not to get into a relationship soon which can end up in not finding a suitable partner’, she said.
It is pointed out that there are more than 1,000 matrimonial sites for the Keralities.
But, those with one lakh and above profile come to around five and the rest are regional level sites meeting the demands of a particular community or an area.