This is a popular subject in the CR, and it repeats itself often with new threads, and only occasionally new participants to the discussion. I find these repetitive threads a bit bothersome. I find comments from people who seem intelligent, but i find it bewildering the read these foregone conclusions on the subject.
Firstly, there seems to be no agreed upon definition of the “shidduch crisis”.
Secondly, there has been no reputable, reliable research to assess this to determine if any crisis exists.
Thirdly, there is an unquestioned set of norms that has varied over the years, with many nuances and variations about different subgroups of the frum community. With this situation being more fluid than static, and the systems of shadchanim remaining relatively the same, there cannot be anything smooth expected.
Fourthly, the success of a shidduch remains as the fulfillment of the bas kol of “Bas ploni l’ploni”. That is not subject to a group norm or a societal trend. It is an individual matter, and involves the Divine Intervention of Hashgochas Hashem, and it doesn’t respond to statistical realities.
So it might be a nice thing to make various forms of hishtadlus. I await some reliable empirical study to see if there is a problem, what the nature of it is, and an idea of the numbers. Until then, it is little more than a journalist’s fodder.