Young Mexicans aged 20 to 29 do not want to get married. According to an analysis made by El Universal with data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI,) from 2000 to 2012 marriages decreased 23 percent in this age group.

The causes range from better education to a financial independence crisis, and cultural change, experts said.

When Ricardo Fernández turned 28, he bought his first car to celebrate his birthday. He works as assistant manager at a Mexican bank, has not had a partner for more than two years, and wants to study for a masters degree and live alone. Marriage is not in his plans. His friends, all single and all with stable jobs, joke about the subject and call themselves the #foreveralone.

In 2000 more than 700,000 couples got married in Mexico, compared to 500,000 in 2012.

Martha Mier y Terán, researcher at the Institute for Social Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said that even though the population of marriageable age - 15 to 50 year-olds - has increased, the bad economic situation, a better education, and a growing participation of women in the workplace have pushed more Mexicans to postpone marriage.

In addition, there has been a significant increase in the number of couples who choose to live with a partner at first, especially in the last ten years, the researcher said.

Morelos, Hidalgo, Puebla, and Mexico City registered the lowest marriage rates from 2000 to 2012. During those years 7,000 marriages were held for every 100,000 inhabitants, according to INEGI data.

In Hidalgo, weddings dropped 30 percent compared to 2000, while marriages increased 11 percent in states like Chiapas.

Raymundo Campos, PhD in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, says that wages in Mexico are decreasing. Recent graduates earn an average of $8,000 pesos a month ($593 USD) in their first job, an amount insufficient to afford living with a partner.

Divorce is also on the rise. In 2012, seventeen out of every 100 marriages ended up in divorce, according to INEGI reports. Chihuahua and Mexico City were the states with the highest divorce rate - thirty-three for every 100 marriages, compared to seven in 2000.

Héctor Maldonado San Germán, director of the Civil Registry of Mexico City, says that divorce is becoming more popular among the lower-middle class. Before divorce used to cost between $80,000 and $100,000 pesos ($5,935 and $7,419 USD,) depending on the process. Now, if both parties agree, it only costs $58 pesos ($4.30 USD) and couples can get divorced in 15 days, Maldonado explained.