When it comes to dating, it is customary for men to pay. However, women are starting to step up and pay on dates. But there’s also a huge chunk of women who believe it’s the man’s job/role to pay on dates, even to the point where they don’t take their wallets or money on dates because they think getting dressed up is enough.
While some guys believe that girls should pay on dates, the majority of the guys believe it’s the guy’s responsibility to pay.
In an informal survey of 255 students, 65% believe the guy should be paying on first dates, while 35% believe that it should be split. In general, 92% believe that the guys should be in charge of paying, with 8% believing it should be the girls. In a relationship that’s been going on for a while, 64% believe it should be split, while 30% believe it should be the guy paying.
Sophomore Galilea Velazquez-Loredo said, “On a first date, whoever asked for the date should pay. Afterwards you can switch off on who’s paying.”
“If I were going to make the rules on paying, it would be that we could split the bill after a couple of weeks of going out,” Senior Vanessa Flores Ramirez said, “I say this because it would be unfair for my partner to pay for everything and maybe he could be having financial problems.”
Senior Everardo Garcia said, “If I invite her out I’m going to pay on the first date. Maybe on the third date I would split it because I know her more and can now be considering having a relationship with her.”
Which I agree with fully. I feel like if one’s relationship isn’t labeled yet but it’s someone’s 3rd or 4th date I say that’s when both parties should talk about paying or hint on splitting the bill.
While I am open to the idea of my significant other paying for meals and such, sometimes I prefer flipping the standards with him. We’re both broke high school students, so money is pretty tight when it comes to our dates. I would say the paying ratio would be 50/50, but I’d be lying since in my relationship it leans more towards 60/40 with my boyfriend mainly paying. However, I feel like that ratio is pretty reasonable.
Although it probably seems that my boyfriend pays all the time, we have talked about taking turns paying, (more like me telling him I will be paying beforehand so then he can let me). When it comes to paying for dates, the person who does the inviting/asking should pay, at least in the beginning. After a series of dates, I think that there should be some type of split.
Obviously, one partner shouldn’t have to pay for everything, especially with how the economy is these days. There should be some talk between partners on who, how, and when someone should pay.
If it’s not decided, then both sides should talk about the paying situation before the date. Even if the topic of paying may be awkward at the moment, it’s best to talk about it beforehand rather than minutes before the plans start or even worse after the event.
Although many people like the idea of the man paying all the time, the income may not be able to accommodate that. Though it’s true that the person who makes more money occasionally may pay more, I think it’s best to figure out where each couple is with paying. The split shouldn’t always be 50/50, but whatever a couple decides should be fair to both parties.
