The parent company of Tinder, OkCupid and Plenty of Fish has launched a new dating app dedicated to helping single parents find love.
Launched on 21 March in celebration of US National Single Parents Day, Stir aims to “celebrate and connect single parents”.
According to figures from Statista, there were around 15.3 million children living with single mothers in the country in 2020, and 3.27 million living with single fathers.
Match said parents are often “underserved” on other dating platforms.
“Having kids shouldn’t be a dealbreaker when dating,” Dinh Thi Bui, vice president of new verticals at Match Group said.
“We’re dedicated to giving single parents a dating experience where they are celebrated and feel like they can be themselves. With that, our hope is that they can truly focus on having a personal life beyond navigating parenthood.”
A survey of 1,494 Stir members has identified how the needs of single parents differ from other users when it comes to dating.
Many struggle to find the time to date. Most single parents (37 per cent) spend less than two hours a week on dates, while 34 per cent spend more than three hours a week.
One in four parents said coordinating schedules to plan a date is a challenge which typically prevents them from going on dates.
While 90 per cent of parents said they don’t hide the fact they have children on their dating profile, one in five single parents said they have been “ghosted” by someone after they learned they had children.
In a bid to overcome the issue of demanding schedules, the app also includes a feature called Stir Time – where members can display their “me time” with matches to make it easier for them to coordinate calendars.
Match Group also surveyed single parents on how quickly they would introduce their children to a new partner. Almost two thirds (61 per cent) said they would wait three months, while 28 per cent said they would wait a year.
Just 16 per cent said they would introduce a date to their children within the first 30 days.
Stir is currently only available in the US. Match Group has not announced if it will also launch in the UK.
