Friends first, then love: the youngest generation is taking dating slowly

The older members of Generation Alpha are taking more time over their first relationship than their predecessors. That is the finding of a survey published on 20 October by dating company Match Group (Tinder, Hinge, Match.com). It polled 823 teenagers aged 13 to 15 in the US; the company says the sample is nationally representative, and minors took part with parental consent. It followed one-on-one interviews and focus groups with 14- to 19-year-olds. Only 20 percent have been in a relationship – in earlier Match research, 56 percent of Gen Z said they had dated as teenagers.

Of the 79 percent not currently dating, about three in four are open to it. Among them, 48 percent want a friendship that could become more, 44 percent mainly want to talk or flirt, and 30 percent want something committed. 64 percent think people should be friends before dating; 66 percent consider dating several people at once disrespectful. 92 percent are happy with their social lives and 84 percent see a great future ahead – 6 points more than teens the same age three years ago. 87 percent are very confident they will reach milestones such as driving, college, marriage, owning a home or having children. 81 percent have some form of screen-time limit.

Match Group sees good news for its industry: 51 percent are open to using dating apps at 18, and 65 percent have heard that apps can be a fun way to meet people. 'The Great Reconnection is still ahead of us,' the company's research team writes. Context: the study comes from a company whose apps are only for over-18s and which has a commercial interest in future users; field dates, margin of error and question wording were not published.