Dating in Your Thirties

The British dating scene seems to be a peculiarly difficult landscape to navigate. There are more well-educated, presentable, interesting people still single in their thirties than ever before. While this state of affairs is a bonus for the dating services and online dating sites, it does beg the question: where are we going wrong?

From about the age of twenty-five to their early thirties, the UK's single population do most of their flirting in pubs and bars. With active social lives and more spare cash than their younger counterparts, they tend to have some measure of dating success.

It's in their early thirties that many people seem to hit difficulty. Friends have coupled up, started to get sprogged up, and head in their droves for the 'good schools' and community spirit of countryside towns. You might have mates in their twenties who you can have a good gossip with at work, but you're unlikely to want to hit the clubs with them on a Friday night.  So where do you meet people?

Of course there are all manner of excellent dating services and internet dating opportunities, but there also seems to be a cultural shift that's affecting the dating landscape for people in their thirties. Aware that this generation are high-spending, social animals, coffee shops and restaurants are becoming much friendlier places for the single visitor.

You no longer feel like a social outcast for curling up in a café on your own for the afternoon with a good book - and there's many a romance that's started over a cappuccino. If you walk into any decent pub or bar, you're likely to see a couple of people on their own, tapping away into a laptop, doing a bit of freelance work or just reading the papers.

As the UK makes it increasingly 'acceptable' to be single and in your thirties so, perversely, the opportunities for dating for become greater. You no longer have to sit on like a loner at home, looking at endless internet dating profiles (not that this isn't a great hobby!), there are now places where you can go on your own - and hopefully meet somebody to leave with...