Match Group Launches Dating App Stir for Single Parents

Image: Match Group

Match Group has announced the launch of its new dating app Stir, specifically designed for single parents looking to date.

The dating conglomerate which owns popular apps like Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid is expanding its suite of apps to focus on certain demographic markets with specific needs, such as single parents. The company found in its studies that many single parents have a hard time on traditional dating apps, and often get ghosted by other members when they say they have children.

"Having kids shouldn't be a dealbreaker when dating," Dinh Thi Bui, Vice President of New Verticals at Match Group, said in the company’s press release. Match Group also noted in its announcement that there are 20 million single parents in the U.S., and that they are often underserved on mainstream dating apps. 

“​​Every year, we survey and interview singles, and every year, we find the same recurring theme: single parents are having a hard time dating,” Bui told CNN Business. “They felt stigmatized in the dating world, like it is a turn-off to disclose they have children. We also saw that single parents naturally gravitate towards other single parents because they didn’t have to explain their constraints as they were in the same stage of life.”

Match Group noted that almost half of single parents are looking for laughter more than anything on a first date, and after that, meaningful conversations and a date without awkward silences. In other words, they want to connect and have fun without being stigmatized.

How to use Stir

Image: Match Group

There are different challenges that single parents face when they date, including scheduling conflicts and last-minute cancellations that inevitably arise when caring for their children. In fact, 27 percent of single parents say coordinating schedules typically prevents them from going on dates at all. Stir includes a feature where members can display “me time” to make it easier to coordinate plans with matches.

As Bui noted to CNN: “[These] members don’t have to second guess if it will be an issue to disclose they have kids, or that they might have to cancel a date because they couldn’t find a babysitter.”

Match Group has been diversifying their dating app offering by marketing more niche apps like Our Time, a dating app for people over 50, BLK for black singles, and Hawaya for Muslim singles. Stir is the latest targeted app, this time for single parents.

Match Group has had a service called Stir before. Back in 2009 Stir was launched as a a social networking club scene website but didn't last long and closed within a few years.

The app was launched on National Single Parent Day and is available in both the Apple Store and Google Play. It is free to use, or customers can purchase a premium 3-month membership with additional features for $89.99.