Throughout our history women have needed a man with resources so she wouldn't die of starvation while pregnant with a partially developed baby inside of her. Try hunting or foraging when heavily pregnant...
So yeah, it's instinct. The man has to provide. Maybe not now, with more women in careers.. but to be honest it seems more logical to have the main as a provider. Pregnancy takes 9 months, then there's breast feeding and raising the kid. A woman may choose to dump the baby in day care and not breast feed it but that's not really desirable... So yes they need a man with money(resources).
I guess in a sense this is true...
But we're forgetting one thing here; it's not love that is about money, in history. It's, moreso "common sense". Humanity as a race wants to survive and it seems that it's the most viable way to start a family. Especially in the past. Nowadays, people live their lives alone AND happy and have no desire to procreate and preserve the human race.
I often wonder if this entire notion of starting a family is outdated, since this concept seems to heavily conflict with a lot of things in contemporary society. I mean; people often can't make ends meet on their own, thus they need to both get a job. Some people don't have the finances to raise a child. But a lot of people still start a family because... that's what "everyone" does. I could argue how marriage is an outdated concept to some, but I'll leave that for what it is right now.
I think, if you're going resources, and purely that, then yes... it might come down to women getting involved with men for money. But with a lot of countries having some kind of social security (at least a lot of western countries; quite sure some members are from countries are left behind) the drive to get together and "love" someone for the fact that he has money seems faulty reasoning. What one can argue is that some people just want more luxury than what they "deserve". Some people just want to adhere to that ideal of being rich and owning stuff (materialism and capitalism go hand in hand here) and some people just can't seem to get it right and end up in such a privileged position themselves and thus they'll hook up with some rich guy, whom, at times seems like he's in full control to what the female does and wears all the time. But apparently people settle with this kind of... well, I guess "slavery". They can give it up, but the wealth is too much to pass up on.
So you can wonder yourself, how exactly is "love" involved here, opposed to taking something to an advantage. "This person likes me and has money... I can deal with this person on a daily basis, I should hook up with him/her". Some people will clearly go out of their way and rather date or marry some wealthy guy with different principles and values or even unattractive, just to be around the money, not the person.
As for myself... and my relationship (and any others in the past). I'm broke mostly, so anyone in it for the money will pull a short straw. But in general I'm quite open about my financial status, thus people in it for the money wont spend a lot of time with me in general. The times money was an issue in relationships was mostly a "I don't want to worry on a daily basis if there's food on the table or a collection agency coming at the door". That's more common sense I guess. No one wants to spend nights tossing and turning over financial worries. But then again; I don't know if I would want to date someone who would depend on the money I make (or get through social security). Nor do I know I'd want to date someone in debts so big he/she can't get out of it. I'm not talking about a monthly payment for a loan... some people have such high debts, that they couldn't even pay them off if they'd sell their kidneys.
It's funny though, since when I look at my parents. My mom has zero income. My dad supports her. If my dad would die, my mom would have a slight problem going on and had to figure out how to get money. She's nearing retirement age, uses a walker to get around, thus employment isn't in the cards for her... and clearly relying on family (which would probably be me) isn't an option, since I'm dependent on below minimum wage income myself. However, my mom had jobs in the past, and she didn't really marry my dad for the money. My dad dropped out of high school, thus he got jobs in contruction amongst other things. My parents used to be the life of the party, going to bars a lot when they were younger, so in that regard I guess my mom got together with him over a mutual interested to get hammered as well as providing some security for her since she divorced before due to domestic abuse amongst other things.
