The dating value prop
Half of Gen Z spends $0 on dates. We shouldn’t be surprised.
About half of Gen Z is spending $0 a month on dates, according to Bank of America’s new Better Money Habits study. While that may be shocking to some, we really shouldn’t be surprised.
Gen Z is placing less value on dating. Why?
Financial security can be seen as a prerequisite to dating
This study had one major theme: saddled with economic anxiety, Gen Z is craving financial stability and economic autonomy – so much so that nearly three-quarters are actively working to improve their financial well-being. Having grown up amid constant chaos, they’re looking for control.
In June, I published takeaways on Gen Z’s spending, saving, and investing habits from listening sessions in partnership with Visible Ventures. What we heard last spring tracks with this new data: saving isn’t always possible amid financial headwinds, and love isn’t just emotional, it’s often financial.
For some, dating can be seen as a “financial burden.”
One 23-year-old young man from Boston told us that’s why he doesn’t want to be in a relationship.
“I'm not at the point in my life, I'd say, where I can provide for someone,” he said. “You go out to dinner, you're expected to pay. And sometimes you're going out way too much.”
Another, who’s 26, said:
"It's kind of caused me to strictly focus on where I want to be in my own career and having high aspirations and high ambition for that, rather than spending time thinking that I could provide for somebody or be in a serious relationship right now.”
For young men in particular, financial security is seen as a prerequisite to dating. But according to the Bank of America study, both young men and young women are just as likely to say they spend $0 on dating.
The Gen Z investment mindset doesn’t include dating
In The Up and Up’s latest Reality Check, I asked respondents about their summer spending habits. Not a single person mentioned dating or romantic gestures.
It’s not that Gen Z isn’t willing to spend on themselves. They are, and many are bringing an investment mindset to their purchases, splurging on plane tickets, trips abroad with friends, technology, and jewelry – all things that have lasting value beyond the initial date of purchase. But they aren’t spending on love.
The gender gap and shifting priorities
According to this spring’s Harvard IOP youth poll, only 57% of young adults ages 18-29 are confident they will find a long-term romantic partner. Meanwhile, only 57% of young adults want to get married, and just 48% want to have kids.
To top that off, there’s a gender gap between young men and women both in their confidence about reaching traditional life milestones, and their broader political outlook. We know that young women are more likely to lean left on the political spectrum, and according to the Harvard IOP poll, young women are also more likely to care about political alignment with a partner. That disconnect complicates men and women’s romantic compatibility.
The takeaway: In a generation that is financially frustrated and divided by gender, where interest in marriage or having children is mixed, there’s little incentive to spend money on dates.
Noteworthy reads
America's youngest consumers drive almost half of household spending, April Rubin for Axios
These young Democrats are trying to win over Gen Z voters, just like Charlie Kirk, Donie O’Sullivan for CNN
Gen Z's career cliff is worse for men — thanks to one corner of the job market, Allie Kelly for Business Insider