The average young dater is getting into more than £2,000 (€2,338) of debt, according to financial services company Experian.
The pandemic and subsequent cost of living crisis has shed more light on spending areas for most people, making them take a good, long look at where their hard-earned money is going. For the younger generation in the UK, this can be particularly telling.
Did you know that the average 18-35 year old in the UK has a debt of about £2,250 (€2,630) due to dating and relationships, according to a survey by financial services and credit reference agency Experian?
The data also reveals that men have £250 (€292) more of this kind of debt than women, with 5% of the men surveyed saying that they had more than £10,000 (£8,554) of relationships and dating debt.
One of the main reasons for this is the immense pressure and expectations created by social media narratives, especially around traditionally romantic occasions such as Valentine’s Day. This includes exotic getaways, luxurious experiences and pricey presents – all Instagram worthy – amongst other things.
According to the survey, 59% of respondents believe that social media has built up expectations of lavish overspending on dates and partners. Some 63% of respondents were also of the opinion that social media had pushed people to enter the dating scene for money.
Twenty-eight percent women revealed they’d taken a sneak peak at a possible date’s social media to double check whether their lifestyles matched. The same trend, when it came to men, ballooned to about 36%.
About 16.6% or 10.1 million of 18-30 year olds are already either late repaying their debt, or have failed to clear it entirely. Younger men are particularly vulnerable to this, because of them making the most of whatever credit they have available.
On average, men between the ages of 18 and 21 men used approximately 33.4% of the credit available to them, with the number dropping to 25.7% for 26-30 year old men.
Content creator and financial educator Megan Mickewright, from The Savvy Investor, as reported in The Big Issue said: “These toxic norms we are seeing on social media can build that pressure to spend a lot of money on dating, especially for the younger generation.
“One of the big topics on social media at the minute is about dating and who is expected to pay for it, and that’s the sort of thing that can make people feel like they’ve got to spend.”
