Sleepless in Hong Kong: how to shake off the singledom blues and find love in the city
Forget about your age, stop mindless swiping at home, and relax if you want to find ‘the one’, experts say
Hongkongers should forget marriage deadlines, stop mindlessly swiping on dating applications, and step back from their busy lives if they want a shot at true love, experts say.
The belief that women must be married by 30 years old and the perceived availability of “better options” stemming from dating applications, combined with our busy lives which don’t leave room for self-love and meaningful connections, is creating rise in singledom in the city.
The Women and Men in Hong Kong Key Statistics 2017 report states people older than 15 who have never married increased by 61 per cent for women, and 14 per cent for men, from 1986 to 2016.
Not only are more people living single lives, but the average age of tying the knot is also increasing, suggesting people could be taking longer to find love. In 1986, the median age women wed was 25, while men were 28. But in 2016 women were 29, and men 31.
“I think Hong Kong needs me,” Ariadna Peretz, the founder and managing director of Maitre D’ate matchmaking agency says. “Hong Kong is a special kind of hell for single people who don’t want to be single any more.”