Should Single Parents Try Online Dating?

With the digital age becoming more and more prevalent, online dating has become well-known as a common and reputable way of dating and meeting new people. One of the advantages to online dating is the fact that it allows you the aspect of multi-tasking which is something any single parent could definitely do with.

Online dating is no longer taboo or uncommon and statistics have fast proven this.

Throughout this article I will provide facts and statistics demonstrating the advantages of using online dating as a single parent and how and why it worked for me.

According to Online dating statistics, it has been shown that 20% of those in current, committed relationships began online and 7% of marriages in 2015 were between couples that met on a dating website.

There are numerous benefits to online dating as a single parent. I will highlight a few which I found most beneficial personally.

I am the type of parent who wants to spend as much time as possible with their child. My son has always been my number one priority. With his biological father out of the picture, I felt even more strongly about not wanting to "abandon" him too and so I saw it as important that I spend as little time away from him as possible.

Online dating allowed me to be with my son while meeting new people and browsing for a prospective lifetime partner online.

I loved how this didn't take away from the time I wanted to spend with my son at all.

When you meet someone at a bar, club , mall etc, you basically know nothing about the person. A major plus for me in online dating came with getting everything out in the open as soon as possible, filtering out the "deal breakers" in the other person and shortlisting only the prospective candidates. In the "normal" dating world getting through all the "clutter " could take some time. But online dating allows you to eliminate many individuals in 3 major ways:

- Profiles: Your profile can clearly state that you are a single parent or that you're looking for something serious etc. Similarly, the prospective dates profile will also state a of information about them which will either use you to write them off as definite ' no-no's or to show more interest in them.

- Filters: You can filter results before you even communicate with anyone. Some websites allow you to select specific age groups, careers, relationship types (serious, fling, friends, etc)

- Chatting: Once you are communicating with people you can basically be as straight forward as possible in what you ask. You don't have to wait for weeks before you ask what their thoughts are about kids or having them, what they do for a living or what their long term goals are.

Many single parents, me included, date with the thought of finding a lifetime partner, a serious relationship and a positive role-model for their child.

I wasn't looking for a fling but a serious relationship because I didn't want to end up being that person who had numerous different men introduced to my child or in and out of his life. I felt lucky in that my relationship with my sons father had ended before he was old enough to realize that his father had disappeared and to ask questions. My sons biological father has been out of his life by his choice for over 2 years now and my son has never even asked about him once because he was that young when he last saw him.

According to Statistic Brain research, those whose relationships begin online are quicker to get married to the partner they met online. The study states that couples who meet online get married after 18.5 months on average in comparison to couples who meet offline who get married after an average of 42 months.

Furthermore, another study showed that in 2015 alone, about 17 percent of American couples who got married that year met online and generally at least 1 out of every 5 committed relationships started online.

Statistic Brain’s attributes this to the fact that you get very specific about your needs (e.g., marriage), when online dating and chatting to those you meet online which makes it quick and simple to find that special someone who can meet those needs.

Sometimes we are limited by circumstance, location and situations, and other times we limit ourselves by having a "type".

When making use of online dating I found that I looked outside of the "box" i was in. I wasn't limited to the people who lived in my area or worked at my work place but the people I actually found more in common with were outside of my usual environment. They were in different cities, different age groups, different races and religions. This was a major plus and worked tremendously to my advantage. Sometime the fact that we have a "type" can actually be our downfall.

As with everything else, there a few cons to online dating as well as things that you should be cautioned about.

In short, you need to be alert and not naive. Yes, just like if you met someone in a bar or mall, there is that chance that you may be lied to or someone may attempt to deceive you in some way or another and that's why you should be alert and take everything with a 'pinch of salt' initially. Do your own "investigations" and don't just trust everything you hear straight off the bat.

The marital status and satisfaction of 19,131 people who got married between 2005 and 2012 were examined and New research demonstrated in the above mentioned study suggests that one in three Americans now meet their spouses online, and that those marriages are less likely to end in divorce.

35 percent of those studied met their spouses online nearly half of those which were through online dating sites the rest included social media, chat rooms, and e-mail, among other online venues.

According to the research:
"While the research found that nearly 8 percent of marriages initiated offline ended in breakups, couples who met online reported lower rates of separation and divorce -- 6 percent."