Beyond snubbing Tinder, Bumble, and casual flings, more than half of Gen Z is spending $0 monthly on dating, BofA finds

Economy·Gen ZBeyond snubbing Tinder, Bumble, and casual flings, more than half of Gen Z is spending $0 monthly on dating, BofA findsBy Sasha RogelbergBy Sasha RogelbergReporterSasha RogelbergReporterSasha Rogelberg is a reporter and former editorial fellow on the news desk at Fortune, covering retail and the intersection of and culture.SEE FULL BIO Many Gen Zers are not spending on data, according to recent Bank of America data.Getty ImagesWho pays on a first date these days? No one, according to a recent report by Bank of America

The young generation is full of financial anxiety and are not prioritizing romance as a result

Disinterest in data apps and less urgency to quickly find a life partner has also contributed to the spending drought on dating

Gen Z is focused on their finances, but one thing they’re not in is romance

Additionally, a third of respondents said they spent less than $100 per month on dates

This dearth of dating spending was nearly identical across genders

But the pressure to find financial security has meant looking for love is not a priority. “Instead of spending big on dating in particular, Gen Z is choosing to be really intentional with their money,” Ryan Viktorin, vice president and financial consultant at Fidelity Investments, told Fortune. “They’re going for low-cost hangouts and skipping fancy dinners and also having real conversations money really early on.” “It’s not that they’re not interested in dating, so to speak, but it’s that we see a lot of them really thinking ahead,” she added

While Gen Z may be already thinking their long-term finances, dering on the saving goals they’ve set for themselves is a different story

According to BofA, more than half of Gen Z adults feel as though they aren’t making enough money to give the life they envision for themselves

Though 42% said they saw saving for retirement as a way of achieving financial independence, only 25% contributed to a retirement account in the last 12 months

Will Smayda, head of financial centers at BofA, said the inability to see materializing gress toward these goals is stoking the young generation’s anxiety. “The moral of the story is that ‘adulting’ turns out to be more expensive and more difficult than most Gen Z had planned for,” Smayda told Fortune

Gen Z sours on casual dating Across generations, economic pessimism has killed the mood when it comes to dating

A 2024 LendingTree survey of more than 2,000 U.S. consumers found that of respondents who were dating, 65% said inflation impacted their dating life. a quarter reported trying to spend less on dates, and one in five respondents said they were going on fewer dates to spend less

Viktorin said the desire to keep finances in check has led Gen Z to “date with purpose,” going out intentionally rather than keeping things casual

Combined with a decreased interest in one-night stands, it’s no wonder why the young generation has also snubbed dating apps, despite companies’ best efforts to woo them

Dating sites have introduced myriad automated tools to increase engagement of young users

In January, Hinge introduced a “mpt back” feature that uses AI to nudge users to imve mpt responses on their dating files

Bumble similarly has AI-powered conversation mpts and photo-selection features

According to a survey by Bloomberg Intelligence, 50% of 1,000 dating app users said AI did not make a difference in how they made their files or chatted with their matches

Dating apps are feeling pressure from Gen Z’s disengagement

Why isn’t dating a ‘little treat’? Gen Z’s distaste for dating apps and casual flings does not fully encompass their philosophy around spending

Despite economic anxieties, Gen Z is not opposed to discretionary spending, embracing the “little treat” culture of dropping chunks of paychecks on cups of coffee, skincare, or travel

Just because Gen Z isn’t spending on dates doesn’t mean they aren’t spending. “If Gen Z are eating out frequently and traveling, one wonders if they’re spending more time with a group of friends or family members, as opposed to on [romantic experiences],” Smayda said

Beyond financial concerns, some of young people’s unwillingness to spend on dating could also just be because it’s just not a priority

Bobbi Rebell, a certified financial planner and consumer-finance expert at BadCredit.org, said Gen Z’s openness toward admitting anxiety around their finances is part of broader values d by the generation mental health, including an increased push to maintain a work-life balance

That multifaceted value system that prioritizes financial independence may also put less emphasis on the need to find a life partner, she said, even if that is something Gen Z eventually wants. “They have less social pressure to be in what I call a permanent ‘forever relationship’—to actually get married at younger ages than previous generations,” Rebell told Fortune. “They don’t have this social pressure to be in a committed relationship at the same level that there might have been years ago.”Introducing the 2025 Fortune Global 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in the world

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