India’s most eligible men work in the civil services and tech related jobs which becomes an edge for them during the matchmaking process, reveals a recent study conducted by online matrimonial platform, Shaadi.com.
Meanwhile, aviation professionals and architects are most desired professions among women when it comes to profession of a potential spouse. Men in civil services and tech are 2X more desired as compared to men in other professions, whereas women in aviation are 47 percent more desired vs women in other professions. Agriculture, unfortunately, is the least desired profession in the country across both genders and comes only second to non-working people.
The first-ever edition of India’s Most Eligible study has been built on a sample base of 2.5 million members residing in India who were active on Shaadi.com from 1 December to 31 December, 2022. The company defines an active member as someone who should have been active on the platform for at least one week during the last 12 months. Of the 2.5 million, 1.6 million are males and 0.9 million are females. The platform states that the top 10 cities of India represent one million, the next 50 cities represent another one million and the rest of India is 0.5 million people. The edition has insightful and intriguing facts about what is desirable and what’s not, in a potential spouse.
The findings highlight that financial independence is important among men and women. Men making over Rs. 30 lakh annually are 190 percent more desired, whereas women making the same amount are 17 percent more desired.
Contrary to popular narratives, age hits men harder in matchmaking and men after the age of 34-35 yrs find it hard to find matches. There are over 6,500 active members on Shaadi.com, who are aged over 60 years and are keen to give love a second chance. In fact, the oldest members on Shaadi.com are 79 years (male) and 72 years (female).
The average age of starting the matchmaking journey has gone up by two years in the past decade, with men’s age going up by 2.5 years and women’s by one year.
More men wish their potential spouse to be working. Non-working women are 31 percent less desired vs average, breaking the myth of Indian men seeking home-makers.
Adhish Zaveri, AVP – marketing, People Interactive Pvt Ltd notes that the study indicates that while we’re moving in the right direction for gender equality in marriages, we still have a long way to go in terms of truly balanced relationships.
“Who we find desirable is really the first point of establishing what this equation would look like after the Shaadi and the insights we’ve uncovered in this study are an honest reflection of India’s view on desirability in the context of finding a life partner. Aspects such as higher desirability for working women and specifically those with higher income, are early indicators that we are making important strides in bringing and retaining women in the workforce,” he adds.