Study: Dating Apps Lead to US Income Inequality

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Facts

  • A new joint study from the US Federal Reserve Banks of St. Louis, Mo., and Dallas, Texas, alongside Haverford College, has linked dating apps to at least half of the increase in income inequality from 1980-2020.[1]
  • The study, which compared data on married couples from 1960 and 1980 with those from 2008-2021, found that women in the online dating era began a slight shift toward prioritizing men's ages while men focused a little more on education levels.[2][3]
  • While couples from both periods maintained a preference for partners of the same race, education level, and with higher incomes, those from the online dating era saw an increased desire for similar income, education, and job type (e.g., white-collar, blue-collar, service).[4][1]
  • With respect to dating preferences and class differences, the study found that 35% of income inequality was due to selection based on education, followed by job type (30%), income and age (both 15%), and race (5%).[4]
  • The study further found that in contrast to the 1960 and 1980 census data, and due to the larger number of educated women, modern men cared less about pursuing women of lower income and education levels (i.e., 'spouses who assume domestic roles').[1]
  • Contrary to their hypothesis, the study authors said that the advent of online dating did not reduce 'search costs' or increase the 'ability to find and meet potential partners.' Hinge and Tinder parent company Match Group dismissed the study, saying it relied 'on superficial correlations' and failed to differentiate online daters from other couples.[4][1]

Sources: [1]Independent, [2]FOX News, [3]Nationalpost and [4]Stlouisfed.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Refinery29. Despite attempts to create the best profile pictures or inquisitive taglines, higher class individuals still notice specific cultural and linguistic differences in their online peers, prompting them to stay away from certain potential matches. For all its efforts, the digital dating industry has yet to conquer the inherent discriminatory nature of human beings.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Phys. While everyone wants to fix income inequality, the solution is likely not to change how human beings date. Despite popular claims to the contrary, humans naturally mate based on similar religions, cultures, education levels, and intelligence levels. Factors that play far less of a role, albeit not 100% of the time, include personality traits like extroversion.

Predictions