From the observations I have made growing up and into my twenties, I honestly do in fact feel this was the case for many families. I'm originally from the Boston area, which is considered a very "enlightened" place in the country. The cost of living is high, many are over stressed and work tirelessly in careers that bring them little in the way of personal value. If I could sum up families there that were (upper)middle class or higher I could describe them as stuck up, up tight and unhappy. I grew up very well off but we didn't live an outlandish lifestyle, though we could have.
Anyway, what I do remember is that affection between husband and wife was not all that common to see. I remember one girl I knew when I was in middle school talk about how one of her friend's parents slept in separate bedrooms, yet they seemed to be this "happy" family. As I mentioned, the majority of us grew up in divorced households, being a teenager and living with both of your actual parents was unusual. I remember as a teen overhearing conversations in public about a youngish couple getting married and the first response by one of the women was "does he have money?". I think a lot of people my parents generation were too afraid to be along and would settle for virtually anything that came along, despite the fact that they did not like the other individual. Some of this was definitely about money though.
I remember my mother, who is a nurse there, talking about all these young nurses in their 20s complaining about how they weren't any date-able men. These women weren't ugly but they ranged from 4 to 7 tops, so just average women that by chance happened to have a good job. They acted as if they were entitled to something you'd see on the bachelor lol, this is a very long time ago so I don't know what their situation is like now.
I remember in high school there was this red haired guy, he was tall and attractive, that was in a long relationship with a woman throughout high school. Anyway, I remember I came across him a couple years after I graduated and he mentioned that he took a year off college and when she heard about his plan to do that she immediately dumped him, he ended up going to be an electrician.
Sometimes I like to look people up from high school on social media and what I remember seeing as a kid and the way their families/parents were I'm seeing a very strong resemblance. I moved out of there years ago because I knew I wouldn't be happy and now I live in AZ.
I could go on and on with even more stories and observations I had made but I think these help get the point across.