Match's seventh annual Singles In America survey, the most comprehensive survey of singles, reveals how over 5,000 American singles ages 18-70+ view dating, love, and sex today. But what about smartphone-addicted, swipe-right-or-left obsessed, ghosting/benching/breadcrumbing Millennials? How does our generation differ from older generations when it comes to modern dating, love, and sex? Turns out, we're definitely doing things differently, but not in the ways you'd expect.
“Millennials are diligently using technology to find love—and building new dating rules and taboos along the way," Dr. Helen Fisher, biological anthropologist and Chief Scientific Advisor to Match said in a press release. "Moreover, if you want to spur a budding relationship forward, skip the flowers: leave your cell phone in your pocket.”
For one, we're actually looking for love more than other generations, which is kinda sweet, but we're also frustrated af with dating and most of us feel lonely. We don't have rules about when it's OK to sleep with someone (yay sex-positivity!), but we're more likely to think sex is better when there's an emotional connection involved and it seems like we're using sex to make a decision on how we feel about partner. And oral? Well, we're a lot less likely than other generations to enjoy it for some reason.
Here's what else you should know about how single Millennials are dating in 2017:
1We're Pretty Obsessed With Dating
Not only are we 125 percent more likely to admit we're addicted to the process of dating, Millennials are 30 percent more likely than other generation to want a relationship this year.
2But We're Also Frustrated AF With It
Classic crash and burn(out) here. While we're the generation most likely date online, but we're also 22 percent more likely to feel that tech has made finding love more difficult. In fact, 57 percent of Millennials report being lonely.
3We're Major Online Daters
The survey found that 40 percent of singles overall have dated someone they met online and only 25 percent have met through a friend, but the biggest online daters? Millennials! We're 57 percent more likely to have created a profile on a dating app, we're also 30 percent more likely to have a first date that leads to a second.
4We're More Likely To Hookup Before The First Date Than Other Generations
We're 48 percent more likely to have had sex before going on a first date with someone, and 28 percent of us think of sex as a way to decide how we feel about someone. But we're not exactly living in the picture the "hookup culture" reputation paints...
5But We Think Sex Is Better With A Strong Emotional Connection
...Because single Millennials are 51 percent more likely than Boomers to have no interest in sex, and we're 40 percent more likely to think that sex is better with an emotional connection.
6We Feel Insane Pressure To Get Married
It's not enough that we're either burned out or obsessed with dating, stress over getting married is clearly on the mind too. Millennials are 177 percent more likely to feel an overwhelming pressure to get married.
Welp, I think it's time we all take a deep breath and chill the eff out — or develop a meditation-based dating app.
