What it’s like to date in your thirties

Sarah Young

Dating is hard at any age, but even more so in your thirties. The playing field is narrower, your number of single friends is dwindling and everyone’s carrying around a whole lot of baggage.

But it can’t all be bad, right? Taking to Reddit, droves of singletons in their thirties have been revealing what it’s really like to tackle the tricky world of dating. One person said, “You would think that people get better at treating each other well and mature emotionally as they age, but no that’s not true.”

Perhaps the most common concern among those looking for love in their thirties is the amount of baggage people come with. One user says, “Dating in your thirties is trying to find someone with the least amount of baggage (emotional, children, etc).”

“It’s like sorting through a bargain bin of damaged goods,” another agrees. Particularly, men were keen to point out the influx of single mums on the market. “I don’t want children and finding a woman in my age range without a kid or kids is only getting more difficult. Good thing I’ve learned to enjoy being by myself,” one person said.

But, independent mums were quick to defend themselves. “As a single, childless woman in my early thirties, let me assure you that there are a ton of single dads out there, too.” But, even when you eventually find someone worth dating things aren’t always as they seem. Lots of users claimed that, in your thirties, the dating field becomes so much more serious and that trying to find someone who’s not just in panic mode is near-on impossible. “When you get older every new date more and more reminds me of a job interview.” That being said, there are some positives to dating in your thirties too. You’re much more likely to have a better perspective on relationships than you did in your infatuated teen years and while, dating is a part of life, you realise it isn’t everything.

— The Independent