New Research from Bumble Shows Only One in Five Women Are Looking for Marriage
If it feels like every single person you know on the internet is either married or about to be, not so! Bumble’s 2024 Dating Trends Report is here to debunk that. The new research, which surveyed over 25,000 Bumble members worldwide (mostly Millennials and Gen Zs)on their attitudes toward dating going into 2024, shows that 31 percent of women are saying they’re “no longer focused” on sticking to the traditional ~first comes love, then comes marriage~ relationship timeline established by patriarchal standards since, well, forever. In fact, while 72 percent of women are looking for long-term relationships, only 23 percent (!!) are seeking marriage, according to the app’s “intentions” feature, which lets you publicly state what kind of relationship you’re looking for on your profile.
The report is consistent with 2019 data from Pew Research Center that found the percentage of U.S. adults who are married is steadily declining, while cohabitation with an unmarried partner is on the rise. Census data from 2021 also indicated that both marriage and divorce rates for women went down from a decade prior, with 14.9 marriages per 1000 women in 2021, compared to 16.3 marriages per 1000 women in 2011.
Bumble’s research also found that 37 percent of women in the U.S. are only interested in dating people with the same POV on timelines and milestones, which is great news for everyone, whether a big white wedding is on your vision board or you’re staunchly anti-relationship escalator—aka, the belief that for a relationship to be valid, it needs to progress automatically from dating monogamously, to engaged, to married, and beyond. Yes to standing firm in our goals and not settling in 2024!
This not-so-coincidentally goes hand-in-hand with the 18 percent of people surveyed in the U.S. who said they’re “actively avoiding friends and family who put pressure on them” to adhere to these societal norms—great info to have on-hand, BTW, going into the holiday season if/when any of your nosy aunts starts to bug you about your relationship status.
For those who are looking to find ~the one~, Bumble reports that 32 percent of people surveyed are prioritizing emotional intimacy over physical intimacy when it comes to finding safety and security—meaning it’s even more important to them than sex. (To steal a phrase from every episode of The Bachelor ever, that means it’s time to “open up” and "put your guard down.”)
Another super-attractive quality? Being in the know—33 percent of women surveyed said it’s a turn-off if someone they’re dating isn’t “aware of current events,” while 25 percent of singles find “political and social engagement” attractive in a potential partner. Aka: If you haven’t registered to vote in next year’s election, consider this your sign that it’s time! 😇
Considering the emphasis on emotional connection (and the fact that 31 percent of men in the U.S. say they have “actively changed their behavior” and are becoming more vulnerable with people they date, per Bumble), things are looking up for singles in 2024. Dare we say, could this be the best time to be single...ever?!
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