Younger singles find income transparency attractive

A new era of dating? America’s younger singles are banking on love in more ways than one, as traditional financial expectations may be losing ground.

A new survey of 2,000 singles or casual daters, split evenly by generation and region, revealed that 42% of baby boomers and 45% of Gen X still abide by tradition and believe the man should pay for a date.

Though 36% of Gen Z share the same sentiment, they’re more likely than any other generation to say that whoever plans or schedules the date should pay (28% vs just 16% of baby boomers) or even that it should be split evenly between both parties (23% vs just 17% of Gen X).

The younger generations also appreciate financial transparency more than the older ones. Half of both Gen Z and millennials find it attractive when a casual date is open about how much money they make, compared to just 37% of Gen X and 23% of baby boomers.

Gen Z is even more than twice as likely as baby boomers to find someone who is a “big spender” attractive (34% vs 16%).

Almost two in five Gen Z (37%) feel pressure to spend a lot of money on dates and one in five (19%) have even gone so far as to ghost someone because of their poor financial habits.

Still, finances ranked in the top three most stressful conversations to have with a date. While relationship history (29%) and sex (26%) ranked as the top two, finances (25%) didn’t fall far behind, even outranking religious beliefs (17%), marriage (12%) and kids (11%).

For baby boomers, finances are just as difficult of a conversation as politics and current events (both 26%).

Conducted by Talker Research on behalf of banking app Chime (https://www.chime.com), results revealed that the exact timing of these conversations is a hot debate as well.

About one-third (31%) believe two people who are dating should start talking about personal finances somewhere between the first and third date.

Another 34% firmly believe that financial conversations should be saved for when you’re in a committed relationship.

With many putting off heavy-hitting financial conversations, crypto and car bros may be in luck as 23% of Gen Z would rather discuss topics that they have no knowledge or interest in over finances and 26% would rather chat about their deepest darkest fears.

Sixteen percent of baby boomers would rather disclose who they voted for in the last election and 19% of millennials would reflect on their exes and past dates.

Still, rising costs and inflation have impacted the dating lives of 74% of all Americans polled and 31% have actually canceled a date due to financial reasons.

“According to the results, Americans are divided over the ‘right’ way to talk about who pays for a first date, and whether it should be on the actual date (37%) or a message before it even begins (31%),” said Janelle Sallenave, Chief Spending Officer at Chime. “With so many Americans feeling anxiety over the payment situation, discussing expectations beforehand can alleviate awkward moments.”

The survey, which also polled 1,000 men and 1,000 women, found that a little more than one in five men (21%) have gone into debt by dating, compared to just 16% of women.

Similarly, men feel more pressure to appear more financially stable than they actually are (39% vs 30%).

Nearly half of men (47%) even believe that the man should pay for all of a date, and only about a third of women agree (34%).

However, men and women only have slightly different ideas of what’s an “acceptable” amount of money to spend on someone they’ve been dating for six months.

Women tend to keep it under $100, or an average of $98, while men are more likely to shovel out an average of $109, bringing the average cost of a date to a little over $100.

Though both men and women find spending more than you make to be a “financial ick” (31% and 35%), women are more likely to be turned off by someone who is stingy with their money (33% vs 19%).

Moreover, women are also more than twice as likely to be turned off when their partner doesn’t offer to pay for dates (29% vs 12%) or if their partner doesn’t have a good understanding of finances (24% vs 17%).

“These findings make it clear that financial norms around dating are shifting — especially among younger generations who are choosing transparency and equality over tradition,” said Sallenave. “Today’s couples are literally banking on love — swapping awkward assumptions for upfront money talks that lead to less stress, fewer surprises, and stronger relationships.”