If you have a single parent in their golden years, chances are that he or she is in the dating game. A quick search online yields a half dozen websites dedicated to making love connections for people in their late sixties and beyond, followed by several more dedicated to senior dating advice. If the idea of your senior mom or dad looking for romance makes you uncomfortable, consider some recent statistics:
Senior Dating Habits
In a survey of relationship habits of seniors, Matchmaker.com reports that 80% of women and 75% of men are looking for a serious relationship. Neither, however, necessarily wants to remarry. Thirty percent of women surveyed feel that remarrying is hurtful to their children while just 4% of men have the same concern. Also, men are more sexually active as single seniors than they were in their younger, married years.
Another survey, conducted by AARP, found that older daters had some typical concerns when it comes to dating life. Common complaints about dating for men were partners “with a lot of baggage,” women who were difficult to get along with after two or three dates and ladies who wanted to get too serious too quickly. For women, the most common concerns were dating men with baggage, not knowing where to meet them, and fending off the over-eager opposite sex.
Why so concerned?
Adult children tend to worry about their senior parents, especially those back in the dating pool. After all, dating in those golden years isn’t much different than dating at 40 or 20. Parents get their hearts broken, they worry about cheating partners and may be criticized by overly protective offspring. But if there’s one concern that some adult children often feel justified about is their parent bringing home a “gold digger.” While seniors are prone to developing conditions that can affect decision-making, the good news is that if your older parent is enjoying an active, healthy dating life, she’s likely aware enough to recognize when a dating partner is taking advantage of her.
Offer a Helping Hand
Like dating at any age, seniors also have concerns and insecurities when it comes to finding romance. AARP reports that older folks can be very set in their ways and feel anxious about a partner finding their habits too rigid. A divorced or widowed senior may worry that his “baggage” will scare off a mate. Seniors also have the same concerns about vanity as their younger counterparts— except at their stage in life, they worry about wrinkles rather than pimples!
Shifting Perceptions
In the mid-2000’s, AARP started seeing a shift in how adult children of seniors responded to their parents’ love lives. The organization reported that children of seniors were starting to encourage dating by showing their parents how to find love online, which one study hailed as a mental health benefit.
Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham conducted a study of seniors who live in independent or assisted living communities. They found that those who go online to meet new people were less likely to feel isolated, lonely and disconnected. And it’s a known fact that older folks who feel connected are happier and healthier than peers who are not.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’][/author_image] [author_info]Edna Robertson specializes in covering the latest news in senior care and senior lifestyles, including assisted senior living.[/author_info] [/author]
