Exclusive | Meet the young women who have ditched serious dating: I dont know how I would function in a romantic relationship

Modern dating seems so easy: more options than ever, devices to connect you, and loosened taboos and expectations.But every single one of these transformations has made things more difficult, too: Potential partners start feeling more like products, it’s more difficult to hold boundaries and it’s paradoxically harder to settle down in an era of infinite choices.A majority of women say dating is harder today than ten years ago, and while just 7% of 35-year-old women had never been married in 1980, that number has climbed to 30% today.

In fact, Pew found in 2020 that 42% of never-married single Americans under 40 have never been in a committed relationship.“I’ve definitely always been open to it, and I’ve gone through waves of really wanting to be in a relationship, and … feeling like something is wrong with me,” said Allie Duff, a 33-year-old with limited romantic experience.She’s one of four women in their 20s and 30s that The Post talked to who have never been in a serious relationship.

Meet them.At 33, Allie Duff has gone on dates and found herself in “situationships,” but she’s yet to have a boyfriend.As each year passes, she said, the stigma grows.“I don’t think I know anyone in real life who’s in a similar situation,” she told The Post.

“I still hold a bit of shame around it and still feel a little embarrassed telling people about it….Are they gonna think something’s wrong with me?”Duff, a florist based in Prince Edward County, Ontario, said living in a small community has made finding a partner difficult — as have men pushing 40 who still aren’t ready to settle down.“I don’t wanna date to just have fun and play around.

I obviously eventually want to meet my person,” she said.Duff has weathered the ebbs and flows of desire and despondency as she’s watched most of her friends get married and have kids, but she’s recently started revising her idea of what a good life can look like....