Zoosk, an online dating site, conducted a poll in which 1,000 of its single users responded to questions about how the realities of the recession have affected their opinion on who they would or would not date.
Seventy-eight percent of those polled said they would date someone who is currently not working. The breakdown between men and women was staggering, however. While most men, 92 percent, said they would date an unemployed woman, only 52 percent of women would get involved with a jobless man.
The disparity between men and women’s willingness to date the unemployed may be glaring, but we’re sure it would be even greater were the poll taken 18 months ago. The recession has most likely influenced how women feel about this demographic in a positive way, but it still pales in comparison to how men feel about it.
This poll seems to reinforce the notion that many women desire their men to be financially stable whereas men are comfortable entering a relationship as the sole breadwinner. Hmm, silly us. We thought we were a half-century past the 1950s.
So while it seems singles everywhere are more lenient of those who have lost jobs (the poll even reported that 80 percent of singles would date someone living with his/her parents!) it can be said that the burden is still more on the male population to quickly rejoin the ranks of the working. At least if they want to find a date.