Society A quarter of young married couples used dating apps

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A Japanese Children and Families Agency survey revealed that dating apps play a significant role in connecting couples. Approximately one in four married individuals under 40 in Japan reported meeting their partner through a dating app. The online survey, conducted last month, involved 20,000 individuals aged 15 to 39, including married and unmarried respondents. Among married people, 25.1% met their partner on a dating app, surpassing traditional methods like meeting through work or part-time jobs (20.5%) and school (9.9%).

While the survey also showed that marriage and having children are not considered essential by many young Japanese adults, with over half of unmarried respondents stating that marriage is not important and nearly half seeing children as not necessarily important, a significant majority (around 60%) still expressed a desire to get married in the future.

The lack of opportunities to meet people in-person was the biggest hurdle for marriage for both married and unmarried respondents, which may explain the rise in popularity of dating apps. Indeed, almost 57% of married respondents said they have used a dating app before compared with only around 27% of unmarried respondents. A different survey by the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry conducted earlier this year also found similar results, with almost 78.7% of singles between the ages of 18 and 34 saying they do eventually want to get married. About 42.7% of respondents said they view an absence of opportunities to find a potential partner as the biggest obstacle to marriage. The survey's results show that the downtrend in marriages — with 3.9 marriages per 1,000 people in 2023 compared with 10.4 marriages per 1,000 people in 1972 — is not necessarily due to an aversion to tying the knot.

Around 1 in 4 married couples in Japan under 40 used dating apps, survey finds

The lack of opportunities to meet people in-person was the biggest hurdle for marriage for both married and unmarried respondents.

www.japantimes.co.jp