Contributed by: kellyseal on Friday, September 20 2024 @ 04:05 pm
Last modified on Friday, September 20 2024 @ 04:08 pm
A new study from Japan found that one in four married couples under the age of 40 met through a dating app, showing a cultural shift away from friends and family networks.
Japan’s children and families agency conducted a nationwide survey in July of this year, targeting 20,000 people (18,000 married and 2,000 unmarried) between the ages of 15 and 39, according to Japan Times. Researchers found that 25.1 percent of married respondents met their partner through a dating app, compared to 20.5 percent who met them through work, or 9.9 percent who met through school.
The study also found that 57 percent of married respondents said they had used a dating app (even if they didn’t meet their partners with one), compared to only 27 percent of unmarried respondents, according to Japan Times[*1] .
The Tokyo local government plans to launch its own AI-based dating app as interest in using dating apps is rising. Part of the goal is to turn around the declining birth rates in the country, and specifically in Tokyo, which has the lowest birth rate in the nation.
Tokyo city government also plans to set up safe environments for people to use dating apps as well as investing in more government-run dating app and matchmaking services.
Japanese authorities are surveying people about their attitudes toward marriage in light of the declining birth rates. There has been a general downward trend in marriage rates, too – about 3.9 marriages per 1,000 people in 2023 compared to 10.4 marriages per 1,000 people 50 years previously, according to Japan Times.
In the July survey, 56.3 percent of unmarried respondents did not consider that getting married was important, and 42.2 percent thought that having a child was not important. But a majority of around 60 percent of unmarried respondents said that they wanted to tie the knot someday, while only 20 percent said they didn’t want to get married at all.
A recent survey by the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce found that an even greater percentage - almost 80 percent of singles between 18 and 34 years old - say they eventually do want to get married, even if they haven’t yet. About 42.7 percent of respondents said they considered an absence of opportunities to find a partner as one of the biggest obstacles.
So as the Japanese government tries to improve marriage rates and birth rates among its population, more measures (like government-run dating apps) will likely be taken, and the population seems open to help, including from dating apps, when it comes to meeting people.