Far more women now have college degrees than men, and it’s reshaping their marriage prospects, a new analysis has found.

Some 1.6 million more women than men are going to four-year colleges, a chasm that will have serious long-term effects on millennial and Gen Z marriages and financial stability, according to a new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

“College-educated women have maintained stable marriage rates by partnering with high-earning non-college men, shrinking the pool of economically viable partners available to non-college women,” the study said.

For generations, college-educated women had a relatively large group of college-educated men to choose from. More men had degrees than women among the Silent Generation and early baby boomers.

Nowadays, boys are twice as likely as girls to be in the bottom 10 percent of high school grade point averages, leading to lower college enrollment, the analysis found.

As a result, female college graduates who want to get married have a waning group of college-educated men to choose from, and are turning to those without degrees who are also high earners.

Those decisions trickle down to women who don’t have college degrees, leaving them with few college-educated or high-earning men to choose from.

“Deteriorating outcomes for men have primarily undermined the marriage prospects of non-college women,” the study said.

In the long term, this trend will have a significant impact on how many millennial and Gen Z women without degrees marry, with more than half staying single rather than tying the knot with uneducated, low-earning men, the study said.

If current marriage and income trends continue in Gen Z and millennials, a retirement crisis could be looming for American women.

Women live around five years longer than men in the U.S. and retire with around 39 percent less money saved, according to a 2026 report from brokerage Morgan Stanley.

“Broadly speaking, men and women may have similar needs when it comes to the basic costs and timing of retirement; women face numerous personal and professional challenges that can make it more difficult for them to achieve retirement security,” Morgan Stanley said.

Those challenges are more acute for single women.

Women who marry earn more than women who never marry, an analysis from financial services firm Farther found.

Add the higher healthcare costs women face over time and the wage gap between men and women, and rough financial times are likely ahead for Gen Z and millennial females.

“These financial challenges make planning for a secure future more daunting and stressful for many single women,” Farther noted.