Annual Dating Survey 2021: 95% of Singles in Singapore Desire Long-Term Relationship, However 45% Has Not Gone on Any Dates This Year

November 24, 2021

Out of 500 Singaporean singles surveyed, 95% of them want to be in a committed relationship (up from 85% last year), with 45% of them wanting to get married in the near future and 20% realizing that they need to prioritize dating.

However, 29% of singles admit that the pandemic and safety concerns are making it difficult for them to get closer to their dates.

Despite their desire to find love, 45% of singles have not gone on any physical dates and 76% of singles have not had any virtual dates this year. “This year, we are still seeing rising cases of Covid-19 and singles are experiencing many uncertainties and changes, which affects their dating lives. The survey shows that 65% of Singaporean singles are feeling nervous about dating again,” said Violet Lim, CEO and Co-Founder of Lunch Actually. “While we understand how they feel, especially after a year of safe-distancing and Covid restrictions, we want to encourage singles that they should overcome this hurdle as meeting new people on dates is the first step to finding a lifelong partner.”

Another important topic explored in this year’s survey is on singles’ mental health and happiness. 40% of singles surveyed said that their mental health has worsened this year, compared to previous year - with more women (46%) feeling worse compared to men (34%). Singles aged 35-44 years old are also feeling worse (49%) - double than those in the 25-34 years old age group (27%). Top 3 contributing factors are inability to go out freely (75%), Covid fatigue of seeing frequent negative news and having to adapt to various restrictions (66%), and feeling isolated (50%).

“As a dating agency, we feel the responsibility to create a safe platform for singles to address their worries, and seek help as they’re feeling these emotions. We need to constantly improve and have better tools to support singles throughout their dating journey, beyond just arranging the dates."
-Violet

This is echoed by 39% of singles surveyed who say having a sense of community and knowing that there are other singles in the same journey is one way that a dating service like Lunch Actually can help them to feel better and more supported. The next highest responses include: having more social events (28%) and providing a dating coach to talk to when they need advice (14%).

Other Key Takeaways from Annual Singles Dating Survey 2021

Dating Apps Are Less Effective: 43% of singles surveyed feel that the pandemic has changed the type of people they meet on dating apps. Out of which, 57% of them admit to encountering more scammers, 50% feel the people they meet there are not serious and are only looking for fun, and 38% think they are only there to get attention to boost their ego.

Pressure to Get Married: 24% of single men and 18% of single women feel more pressure from society to find a partner this year, compared to pre-Covid.

Quality Over Quantity: Due to the pandemic, singles are re-evaluating their dating mindset and are more intentional in their interactions with potential matches:

93% of singles say they are more focused on finding a long-term relationship now
76% of them have stopped casual dating
87% are more upfront about their intention early on in the dating process to not waste time.

What Men and Women Want: Asked about the 3 most important characteristics of their future partner, men and women have different answers. For the men, what’s most important are age (74%), body type (53%) and religion (32%). For the women, it’s income level (55%), age (52%) and education level (45%).

Dating Openness:

Compared to 7 years ago, women are now more open to dating younger men (70% now as compared to 47% in 2013.) This is the highest number amongst other female singles in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Thailand.

58% of Singapore women would not date a man with a lower income - this number has gone down compared to 61% last year, indicating that women are becoming more open in this area.
82% of women are not open to dating shorter men. This number continues to go up every year (compared to 80% in 2020). However, 66% of men are open to dating taller women.

63% of men and 56% of women would not date a divorcee with kids. This percentage is the highest for men compared to other countries.

Dating and Vaccinations: 55% of women will not date someone who is not vaccinated due to personal choice, while 60% of men are still open to dating an unvaccinated single.

Making The First Move: 61% of women say that men should make the first move, however 71% of men say that it doesn’t really matter to them.

Maria Azzahra