Dating apps and marriage rates

IF 1.8 4区经济学 Q2 ECONOMICS

Economics Letters Pub Date : 2026-03-01 Epub Date: 2026-02-27 DOI:10.1016/j.econlet.2026.112873

Sunmi Jung, Lester Lusher

引用次数: 0

Abstract

We estimate how the diffusion of the dating app Tinder affected marriage outcomes in the United States. Using Google search intensity for “Tinder” as a proxy for platform exposure and individual-level data from the Current Population Survey, we estimate event-study specifications for adults aged 21–35. We find no effect on overall marriage rates or the timing of first marriage. However, Tinder exposure is associated with higher divorce or separation rates, particularly at younger ages. Marriage effects emerge in male-heavy and thin dating markets, suggesting that dating apps primarily ease matching frictions rather than increasing aggregate marriage formation.

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约会软件和结婚率

我们估计了约会应用Tinder的传播对美国婚姻结果的影响。使用“Tinder”的谷歌搜索强度作为平台曝光率和当前人口调查中个人层面数据的代理，我们估计了21-35岁成年人的事件研究规范。我们没有发现对整体结婚率或第一次结婚的时间有影响。然而，Tinder曝光与更高的离婚率或分居率有关，尤其是在年轻人中。婚姻效应出现在男性多、男性少的约会市场，这表明约会软件主要是缓解配对摩擦，而不是增加总体的婚姻形成。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Economics Letters ECONOMICS-

CiteScore

3.20

自引率

5.00%

发文量

348

审稿时长

30 days

期刊介绍： Many economists today are concerned by the proliferation of journals and the concomitant labyrinth of research to be conquered in order to reach the specific information they require. To combat this tendency, Economics Letters has been conceived and designed outside the realm of the traditional economics journal. As a Letters Journal, it consists of concise communications (letters) that provide a means of rapid and efficient dissemination of new results, models and methods in all fields of economic research.