What is the key takeaway about Gen Z Would Rather Not Date at All Than ?

51% of Gen Z adults spend $0 on dating monthly, up sharply from prior years.

What is the key takeaway about Gen Z Would Rather Not Date at All Than ?

Average date cost hit $189, with inflation and gas prices driving the increase.

What is the key takeaway about Gen Z Would Rather Not Date at All Than ?

42% of young adults live paycheck-to-paycheck, including high earners.

What is the key takeaway about Gen Z Would Rather Not Date at All Than ?

Many Gen Zers prioritize career and savings over dating, viewing it as a risky investment.

Gen Z Would Rather Not Date at All Than Pay $250 for Dinner and Drinks

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**More than half of Gen Z adults now spend nothing on dating each month, with financial strain reshaping romance for a generation.** A Bank of America survey found 51% of Americans aged 18 to 29 reported $0 monthly dating spend in 2026, while nearly a quarter are delaying relationships due to money concerns. Only 11% described themselves as actively dating, as inflation and rising costs force tough trade-offs. For many, dating has become a discretionary expense that gets cut first when budgets tighten.</p><p class="summary-lead">**The average cost of a single date has surged to $189, up 12.5% from last year, making romance a luxury many can't afford.** Brett Gaffney, a 26-year-old in Los Angeles, estimates a dinner date now runs $250—more than double what it cost a few years ago—and he limits matches to those within a 20-minute drive to save on gas. With 42% of young adults living paycheck-to-paycheck, including 29% of those earning over $100,000, the financial calculus is stark. Even those who could afford to date are choosing not to, prioritizing career savings and guaranteed good times with friends over costly gambles on strangers.</p><p class="summary-lead">**This isn't just about affordability—it's a strategic reallocation of time and money in an era of economic precarity.** Certified financial planner Hanna Horvath notes that young people are optimizing for control, investing in retirement and career growth instead of uncertain romantic outcomes. A third of Gen Z say they're simply not interested, but that disinterest may mask a rational response to high costs and low returns. **What to watch next:** whether dating apps and venues adapt with lower-cost models, or if this trend permanently reshapes how young adults form relationships.

Key Takeaways

51% of Gen Z adults spend $0 on dating monthly, up sharply from prior years.
Average date cost hit $189, with inflation and gas prices driving the increase.
42% of young adults live paycheck-to-paycheck, including high earners.
Many Gen Zers prioritize career and savings over dating, viewing it as a risky investment.

Insights & Analysis

The decline in dating spending may accelerate a shift toward low-cost or no-cost social formats, like group hangouts and digital-only interactions, potentially disrupting the dating app and restaurant industries.
If economic pressures persist, Gen Z's romantic habits could become a permanent generational trait, leading to later marriages, smaller families, and a redefinition of intimacy that relies less on traditional spending milestones.

Original source

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-22/inflation-has-gen-zers-skipping-dating-and-relationships?srnd=phx-money&embedded-checkout=true

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Summary

**The average cost of a single date has surged to $189, up 12.5% from last year, making romance a luxury many can't afford.** Brett Gaffney, a 26-year-old in Los Angeles, estimates a dinner date now runs $250—more than double what it cost a few years ago—and he limits matches to those within a 20-minute drive to save on gas. With 42% of young adults living paycheck-to-paycheck, including 29% of those earning over $100,000, the financial calculus is stark. Even those who could afford to date are choosing not to, prioritizing career savings and guaranteed good times with friends over costly gambles on strangers.

**This isn't just about affordability—it's a strategic reallocation of time and money in an era of economic precarity.** Certified financial planner Hanna Horvath notes that young people are optimizing for control, investing in retirement and career growth instead of uncertain romantic outcomes. A third of Gen Z say they're simply not interested, but that disinterest may mask a rational response to high costs and low returns. **What to watch next:** whether dating apps and venues adapt with lower-cost models, or if this trend permanently reshapes how young adults form relationships.

Key Takeaways

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Brett Gaffney has a simple calculus for his dating life: When money is tight, romance can wait. The 26-year-old aspiring actor juggles restaurant shifts, auditions, YouTube cameos and more gig work to make ends meet. But if he ends up short on money one month, dating is the first expense to go.

“It’s not that I want to go on fewer dates,” said Gaffney, who lives in Los Angeles. “It’s because I can’t buy things I need for my day-to-day life.”

He’s not alone. A Bank of America Corp. survey of Americans aged 18 to 29 found that 51% reported spending $0 on dates a month in 2026 while nearly a quarter said they’re delaying moving relationships forward because of their financial situation — if they’re dating at all. Only 11% of younger Americans described themselves as actively on the market.

Add financial concerns to the growing list of explanations for why young people are relatively uninterested in romance compared with older generations. As inflation is on the rise again, Gen Z is reaching financial independence, which “means having to make difficult trade-offs on going out and dating,” said Will Smayda, the head of financial centers at Bank of America. The survey found that 42% reported living paycheck-to-paycheck, including 29% of those earning over $100,0000 annually.

As going out gets costlier, it’s increasingly out of the budget. The average “all-in” spend on a date, including grooming and gas, reached $189 earlier this year, according to a survey from BMO, up 12.5% from a year prior. And that’s after paying for dating app subscriptions, a members club or a ticketed singles social event.

Gaffney estimates that a dinner date, including food and cocktails, costs him around $250, up from $120 just a few years ago. In busy months, he’s spending over $800 a month. Now with gas prices just under $6 a gallon, he’s only matching with people on dating apps who live within a 20-minute drive.

A friend who makes slightly less than he does has felt so daunted by the costs of wining and dining, he’s stopped dating altogether, Gaffney said. “It’s not a confidence issue. He just says he doesn’t have the money.”

For some members of Gen Z, it’s not a money issue, according to the Bank of America survey. Around a third of those surveyed said they weren’t interested. That, however, may have more to do with finances than people admit, said Hanna Horvath, a certified financial planner who writes a money psychology newsletter.

“Building a relationship and dating is an investment that’s hard to quantify,” said Horvath.  “In times of economic precarity, they’re optimizing their time and their money and turning to things that are in their control.”

For Gaffney, that means staying focused on his career, investing early for retirement and being selective about how he spends his evenings. He still wants to find someone to share his life with someday. But these days, he prefers to go out with friends instead of spending hundreds of dollars to gamble on a first date.  “With my friends, at least I know I’m going to have a good time,” he said.