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Relationships
 AARP
reported, in a September 2003 study of
singles aged 55+, 49% said, "Having
someone to talk to or do things with" is
the most important reason for dating.
AARP's September 2003 survey cited
these as the Top Three Complaints of
Singles in their 50's:
Men
- Dating partners with a lot of
baggage - 42%.
- Women who become extremely
difficult to get along with after a
few dates - 28%.
- Women who want to get serious
too fast - 18%.
Women
- Dating partners with a lot of
baggage - 35%.
- Not having a clue where to meet
men and meeting too few new men -
23%.
- Overeager men who want to get
serious too fast - 21%.
AARP reported in September 2003 dating
can be daunting, regardless of a
person's age. But for those 50+, being
single can have its own challenges,
including:
- Many have set habits/routines,
enjoy their freedom and are less
likely to change.
- Divorce and failed relationships
can add baggage.
- Children and elderly parents can
complicate dating.
- Wrinkles and extra pounds.
- Other physical appearance
changes diminish self-esteem and
create intimacy issues.
Internet
- Two-thirds of adults between the
ages of 50-64 use the Internet
(Burst! Media, 2006).
- In their quest for love and
companionship, computer users aged
55+, accounted for 16.7% of all
traffic to on-line personal sites
(Internet research firm, Nielsen/NetRatings,
2006).
- The 50+ segment is the fastest
growing group of subscribers for
on-line dating (Lehman Brothers
Equity Research, February 2007).
- Women and men 50+ are using
on-line dating and relationship
websites because the stigma of an
on-line personal ad is fading, and
their adult children are leading
them to on-line dating (AARP,
December 2005).
- Seventy-four percent of the 10
million Internet users have pursued
their romantic interests on-line
(Pew Internet and American Life
Project March 2006).
- Thirty-one percent of American
adults - 63 million people - say
they know someone who's used a
dating website (Pew Internet and
American Life Project March 2006).
- Twenty-six percent of American
adults - 53 million people - say
they know someone who's gone on a
date with a person they met on a
dating website (Pew Internet and
American Life Project March 2006).
- Fifteen percent of American
adults - 30 million people - say
they know someone who's been in a
long-term relationship or married to
someone she or he met on-line (Pew
Internet and American Life Project
March 2006).
- Singles spent $550 million in
2004 on on-line dating sites; $469.5
million in the U.S. Revenue is
expected to grow to $1 billion by
2008 (Jupiter Research, 2004).
- The average on-line romance
seeker belongs to three sites and
spends an average of $239 per year
for on-line subscriptions (Jupiter
Research, 2004).
Boomer
Population
- Baby Boomers represent 27.5% of
the population; over 24 million
Boomers are 50+; and by the year
2030, the Baby Boomers will be ages
66-84 and make up 20% of the total
population (MetLife's Mature Market
Institute, 2003).
- A 50-year-old female can expect
to live 82.5 years; a male 78.5
years (The National Center for
Health Statistics, 2005).
- Men aged 55+ were more likely
than women to be in the labor force
(US Census Bureau, April 2003).
- Tenthousand Baby Boomers a day
turn 50-years-old and that almost
half of the 23.4 million retirees
had $250,000 or more in liquid
assets (The Center for Media
Research, February 2006).
- Within the 50+ demographic of
51.1 million people, 15.8% drink
wine and 29% have visited a gambling
casino in the past year (The Center
for Media Research, February 2006).
- Of the 72 million family
households in the U.S., 34 million
of them are Baby Boomer households
(MetLife's Mature Market Institute,
2003).
- In the 2000 Presidential
Election, approximately 59% of Baby
Boomers voted and older Boomers
(born 1946 to 1955) were more likely
to vote than younger Boomers (1956
to 1964) 69% to 56% (MetLife's
Mature Market Institute, 2003).
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