In 2021, dating was more of a “hot mess” than a “hot girl summer.”

In 2021, dating was more of a “hot mess” than a “hot girl summer.” While young consumers were anticipating a “hot vaxed summer” this past spring, many young singles used 2021 to reassess what they want out of a relationship after discovering that A) people don’t necessarily share their same feelings about needing to be vaccinated to feel comfortable dating again and B) COVID-19 variants made dating in 2021 that much more confusing. According to a survey conducted by the Kinsey Institute in the U.S., over half of respondents 18-45-years-old say they are likely to ask someone’s vaccine status before becoming intimate, and 18% say being unvaccinated was a deal breaker. Meanwhile, Match’s Singles in America survey of 5,000 American adults found that 80% of 18-24-year-olds and 76% of 25-40-year-olds say sex is less important than it was pre-pandemic. Logan Ury, Hinge’s director of relationship science explains, “After going through the collective trauma [of COVID-19], people said, ‘I really want to find a relationship.’” Young singles certainly returned to dating in-person in 2021, but according to Ury, the data doesn’t show that young singles truly embraced “hot vaxed summer”; rather, people used that time to get serious about what they wanted. YPulse’s Finding Love Post-COVID trend research found that 27% of 18+ singles have become more interested in being in a relationship. (Mashable)