While it may seem like each and every high school and college friend is lining up to march down the wedding aisle in favor of holy matrimony, new research reveals that millennials are showing dwindling interest in marriage as they age.

Demographic Intelligence, premier provider of U.S. birth forecasts and fertility analytics, published "The U.S. Wedding Forecast," a report that offers valuable demographic insights into the future of U.S. marriages and marriage trends. Businesses, brand managers, publishers and investors will be able to use this foretelling research as insight when attempting to appeal to those who are married and those likely to get married.

The forecast offers detailed projections, even examining ethnicity, age, race and education to analyze demographic factors and how those factors impact a variety of sectors, including bridal services, jewelers, florists, publishers, registries, formal apparel and many others.

By next year, marriage rates are expected to drop to the lowest levels it's ever been, according to the report. This can be attributed to a number of factors, including the fact that the U.S. has become more secular and less religious (self-proclaimed Christians dropped from 78 percent to 71 percent between 2007 and 2014; atheists or agnostics grew from 16 percent to 23 percent); more millennials are living together or having children "out of wedlock" (nearly 25 percent of unmarried young adults are living with a partner); and births to unmarried women also are on the rise, in fact 41 percent of children are born to unmarried women.

The millennial population is large and influential, and more will be entering prime marriage age within the coming five years, more so than ever before in U.S. history. Millennials are delaying marriage due to education, economics and preference. During the 1960s, less than eight percent of women and 13 percent of men were married at age 30 or older. Today, nearly one-third of women and more than 40 percent of men marry for the first time at age 30 or older.

Weddings for college-educated women rose from 30 percent in 2008 to 36 percent in 2015, according to the report. But, overall, weddings are down, and it's affected businesses that depend on nuptials, such as wedding planners. Millennials' decision to stay marriage planning or totally forgo marriage has challenged norms and reduced the marriage rate.

The U.S. Wedding Forecast stated that by next year, the marriage rate will fall to 6.7 per 1,000 people, a historic low. This includes individuals getting married for the second or third time. Projections based on the current pattern suggest that the marriage rate could hit zero in 2042. Pew Research predicts that many under 35 will be single forever. Also, they stated that 25 percent of millennials are likely to never be married.

However, the report shared that the growth of Hispanic population should propel the percentage of Hispanic brides from 15 percent in 2008 to 18 percent this year. In contrast to declines in marriage, the total fertility rate in the USA is predicted to rise from a 25-year low of 1.89 children per woman in 2012.

While the social allure of marriage may be lost, 70 percent of millennials want to marry. However, millennials, particularly those from lower levels of education and income, feel that they lack the necessary prerequisite economic foundation for marriage.

It is worth nothing that the research for the report was conducted prior to the Supreme Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriage.

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