Fifteen Years of Data Show American Singles Rethinking Love, Marriage and Money

America’s single adults are sending a surprisingly warm signal about committed relationships, according to new data from the 15th annual Singles in America survey, the nation’s longest-running and most comprehensive annual study of unmarried adults. Conducted by the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University with funding from Match, the project has now surveyed more than 80,000 people across the United States, building one of the richest longitudinal datasets available for tracking how dating, attraction, marriage intentions and family plans shift with the economic and technological currents of the times. The 2026 edition, based on a demographically representative sample of approximately 5,000 single adults aged 18 and older, suggests that after years of drifting away from traditional relationship goals, singles are moving back toward them, even as they redefine what those goals should look like.

The most striking reversal concerns the desire for partnership itself. The share of respondents who said they do not want a relationship climbed steadily to a peak of 32 percent in 2021, but has since fallen to 24 percent in 2026. Over a longer arc, the change is even more pronounced: in 2010, 33 percent of singles said they would like to marry someday; by 2026 that figure had risen to 45 percent. Yet the institution of marriage is being reimagined rather than simply embraced. The ideal age for marrying has increased, as has the ideal length of dating before a wedding, and roughly 30 percent of respondents said they would be open to a long-term committed relationship with no intention of marrying at all. The data point to a population that still wants deep attachment but is increasingly flexible about the legal and social packaging that comes with it.

Attitudes toward attraction are shifting in two directions at once, a tension the researchers themselves flagged. Belief in love at first sight jumped dramatically from 41 percent in 2010 to 62 percent in 2026, and the share of singles who say they have actually experienced it rose from 30 percent to 47 percent. At the same time, the slow burn is thriving: nearly half of singles, 49 percent, report having fallen for someone they did not initially find attractive, up from 30 percent in 2010. The most commonly cited catalysts were great conversations, shared interests and becoming best friends, though self-improvement factors such as greater emotional maturity, improved finances and clearer life goals gained in importance over the same period. Singles are also more willing to give a lukewarm first date a second chance, with 41 percent saying so in 2026 compared with 35 percent in 2021.

That openness coexists with sharpened selectivity. The proportion of singles maintaining a checklist for a long-term partner rose from 25 percent in 2021 to 34 percent in 2026, and fewer reported falling in love with someone who failed to meet most of their criteria. Younger singles are vetting prospects with unprecedented rigor: half of Gen Z respondents said they screen or research dates online before meeting in person, most often through social media, cited by 60 percent, but also through Google searches, used by 37 percent, and background checks, used by 29 percent. Dr. Justin Garcia, Executive Director of the Kinsey Institute and co-lead of the study, observed that there is an interesting tension in the data: singles today hold clear expectations for a partner, yet love still has the ability to surprise them, since nearly half have fallen for someone they were not initially attracted to and conversation, shared interests and values can change how they see a person.

Economic anxiety looms over nearly every relationship decision the survey measured. More than half of singles, 52 percent, said the difficult economy made them more interested in finding someone to share their life with, nearly double the 27 percent who said the same in 2013. Yet insecurity cuts both ways: compared with 2019, more singles reported needing to reach a certain career and income level, build cash reserves, pay off debt or own a home before pursuing a long-term relationship. When asked to name their top three day-to-day stressors, the most selected answer was concern about the economy or finances, chosen by 54 percent of respondents, and when asked what would make their lives happier, the most common answer, selected by 56 percent, was simply more money. Financial readiness has become a gatekeeper to romance for a substantial share of the single population.

The economic mood is also reshaping family plans. Just 38 percent of singles aged 18 to 49 said they want children in the future, with a notable gender gap: 42 percent of men versus 32 percent of women. Half of all respondents named financial stability as a top factor in deciding whether to become a parent, and more than a third said their financial situation, cited by 40 percent, or the state of the world, cited by 34 percent, had pushed their timeline for children later. Attitudes toward caregiving roles showed a complicated trajectory. In 2013, 34 percent of respondents overall believed women should be the primary caregiver for children; by 2026 that figure had risen to 51 percent, and among Gen Z men it reached 70 percent, even though 72 percent of those same men said it was acceptable in their own relationship to be a stay-at-home parent. For Gen Z, social media was the most commonly reported influence on attitudes about gender roles in romantic relationships, outranking friends, family and past relationship experiences.

Perhaps the sharpest declines in the dataset concern alternative paths to parenthood. Willingness to consider fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization collapsed from 44 percent in 2017 to 18 percent in 2026, and openness to egg freezing fell from 33 percent to 17 percent over the same period. Willingness to consider adoption dropped from 53 percent to 27 percent. The magnitude of these shifts suggests that the rising costs and complexity of building a family, combined with shifting cultural attitudes, are narrowing the range of options singles can realistically imagine for themselves, a trend with potential implications for future fertility and adoption patterns across the country.

On questions of difference and compatibility, the picture is nuanced. Despite their longer checklists, singles, and especially men, report growing flexibility about dating people with very different views on religion, social issues and finances. Since 2019, willingness to fall in love with someone of a different religious faith rose from 43 percent to 57 percent, on social issues from 44 percent to 56 percent, and on approaches to money from 49 percent to 56 percent. Political differences, by contrast, changed little overall in terms of willingness to date across the aisle, yet political labels themselves have become more likely to be outright dealbreakers, particularly among Gen Z. Compared with 2015, more singles now say that being a Republican, Democrat or Independent would rule out a potential partner, and those exclusions have grown substantially stronger within roughly the past year.

What singles want in a partner, meanwhile, sounds less like a fantasy and more like a foundation. When considering someone for a committed relationship, the most selected trait, chosen by 39 percent of respondents as part of their top three, was someone they can trust and confide in, followed by emotional maturity at 28 percent. The hallmarks of a healthy relationship were defined as mutual respect, cited by 53 percent, open communication at 52 percent, and a feeling of safety and security at 40 percent. Older singles aged 39 and above reported valuing honesty, reliability and emotional connection more as they have aged, and roughly half of all Gen Z and Millennial respondents want a partner who has been to therapy. Dr. Amanda Gesselman, a Senior Research Scientist at the Kinsey Institute and study co-lead, said the data show singles becoming more flexible over time about what a good relationship can look like, with traditional milestones becoming less essential as people place more value on the kind of person they want their partner to be; across ages, genders and sexual orientations, she noted, nearly everyone is looking for a long-term partner they can trust, laugh with and experience strong sexual chemistry with.

Even the etiquette of rejection and the tools of courtship are being transformed. Only 35 percent of singles said they would tell someone face-to-face that they were not interested in seeing them again, and just 37 percent would say so by text. Instead, subtle signals have proliferated: offering to split the check, ending a date with a polite it was nice to meet you, or offering a handshake or hug instead of a kiss have become increasingly common ways to communicate disinterest, while ghosting and slow fading have held steady. Ironically, 60 percent of respondents said they would prefer some form of direct face-to-face communication when they are the ones being turned down. Technology is also embedding itself in romance through artificial intelligence: nearly 4 in 10 singles, 39 percent, have already used AI in their dating lives, most often to improve communication, find better matches or generate message ideas. Usage is heavily generational, with 67 percent of Gen Z singles reporting AI use compared with 46 percent of Millennials, 24 percent of Gen X and just 5 percent of Boomers, and men more likely than women to have tried it, at 47 percent versus 30 percent. Yet skepticism remains strong: 34 percent consider using AI to alter dating profile photos a dealbreaker, 30 percent object to a partner relying on AI for all their conversations, and while 30 percent believe AI could improve human connection, 66 percent insist it could never replace it. Taken together, the fifteen-year record portrays a generation of American singles who are more deliberate, more financially cautious and more technologically assisted than ever, yet still fundamentally searching for the same thing: a trustworthy partner and a durable bond.

Subject of Research: Longitudinal survey research on the dating attitudes, relationship goals, family planning and technology use of single adults in the United States

Article Title: 15th annual Singles in America Survey reveals how relationships, marriage, money and family are changing

Article References: 15th annual Singles in America Survey reveals how relationships, marriage, money and family are changing. (n.d.). Original publication

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: Not provided

Keywords: Singles in America, Kinsey Institute, dating, marriage, relationships, economic insecurity, fertility, Gen Z, artificial intelligence, gender roles, survey research, social trends