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Dating Sites Boom as Economy Busts

by Chad Mumm on March 31, 2009 at 12:58 PM

Maybe people have lost their jobs and now have more time on their hands. Maybe it's better to have a companion during hard times than to go it alone. Or, maybe, people are just looking for a little romantic excitement to take their minds off the dismal economy. Regardless of the reasons, as the economy has taken a nosedive, online dating Web sites have been soaring.

A recent survey conducted for the popular eHarmony.com revealed that 25-percent of women cite the economy as making them more inclined to seek a long-term relationship, according to the Economist. The subscription-based dating site (known for its strict honesty policies regarding user profiles and pictures) currently has more than 20 million members and, apparently, sees its greatest number of visits on days when the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by more than 100 points. Also thriving is the free dating Web site OkCupid, which has seen its membership triple since September of 2008. The site skews towards younger users, perhaps drawn to its casual Facebook-style approach (profiles aren't subjected to confirmation like eHarmony), and, more likely, the fact that the site doesn't cost a dime to use.

We agree that it's nice to have someone to hold when we're not holding much cash, but you can bet we'll be going dutch when it comes time to hit the streets with our newly-matched online mates. [From: Economist, Via: Consumerist]

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Tags: dating, financial crisis, FinancialCrisis, online dating, OnlineDating, recession

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