Boomers & Dating: The Facts

If you're a single baby boomer looking for love, it can be all too easy to feel doubtful about your prospects. Aren't the pickins slim in this age group? And isn't the man-to-woman ratio abysmal? As tempting as it can be to buy these common beliefs, an array of surveys and studies say that, on the contrary, the dating scene never looked better than it does now for boomers. Check out these surprising statistics, and you'll see what we mean.

1. There really are a lot of fish in the sea. According to the Census Bureau, 29 percent of adults age 45-59 are now single, compared with only 19 percent in 1980.

2. And those fish are having fun! 70 percent of single boomers say they date regularly, and 45 percent of men and 38 percent of women say they're having sex at least once a week.

3. A lot of you are online. People over age 50 make up Love@AOL by Match.com’s fastest growing segment of users, with a 300 percent increase since 2000.

4. You're not necessarily craving the sound of wedding bells. Only 14 percent of boomer women and 22 percent of boomer men said their most important reason for dating was to find someone to live with or marry.

5. The man-to-woman ratio really isn't that bad. There are 92 men for every 100 women for those aged 55 through 64.

6. May/December relationships are on the rise. Demi is hardly the only gal living it up with her younger man Ashton; 34 percent of women ages 40-69 are ''tadpoling'' too.

7. Who said older men are old-fashioned? 21 percent of guys in their 40s and 50s say sex on a first date is acceptable. Only two percent of women this age agree.

8. Couplehood at this age ain't just about companionship. When it comes to relationships, 84 percent of boomers rank physical intimacy as being important or very important.

9. Older women really are the best in bed. 82 percent of boomer gals say they're confident sexually, and 62 percent say they have a good sense of what satisfies their desires -- which is way better than how Gen Xers (52 percent) and Gen Yers (38 percent) feel.

10. Think finding love at your age is hopeless? Hardly! 75 percent of women and 81 percent of men in their 50s experience a serious, exclusive relationship after a divorce. So if that's what you're looking for, get on out there and you may find ''The One'' sooner than you think!

Laura Schaefer is the author of Man with Farm Seeks Woman with Tractor: The Best and Worst Personal Ads of All Time.

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