Nearly 71% of women would contribute to cost of engagement ring: Survey
Engagement season is upon us, and December is the most popular month to propose worldwide. Node.
And while men have traditionally been expected to shell out for that diamond (as Beyoncé said in 2008, she should have “put the ring on it”) many women are changing their expectations of who will make the purchase.
Nearly 71 percent (70.6%) of women say they are willing to contribute to engagement ring costs DatingAdvice.comlatest Holiday Participation Survey from 1,000 partnered US adults.
Almost 19% said they would pay for the ring in full, about 23% said they would pay partially, and 29% said they would contribute if necessary.
Here’s why Natassia MillerThe certified sexologist, who founded sex and relationship coaching company Wonderlust, thinks she can change women’s attitudes.
There are more dual-income couples these days
According to the research, the number of couples earning two salaries, with or without children, is higher than ten years ago. Pew Research Center.
And while the gender pay gap remains, on average, there are some metro areas in the U.S. where women under 30 earn as much as or more than their male counterparts. According to Pew.
“Today, at a time when dual-income couples and women are postponing marriage while developing their careers, there is more openness to treating the ring as a joint investment,” says Miller.
Some ‘couples are more pragmatic’
This gem is expensive: The average cost of an engagement ring is $5,200. Node.
And there are plenty of headlines about Americans’ financial woes. For example, overall prices have risen 25% since January 2020, according to Consumer Price Index data, and nearly half of Americans believe their financial situation has worsened this year, according to a recent survey by Intuit Credit Karma.
“In this context, it makes sense for couples to be more pragmatic,” says Miller. “Some women prefer to share the cost and keep the purchase in line with reality, rather than having a partner borrow money to arrive at an arbitrary ring budget.”
A ‘public symbol’ that reads ‘Someone depends on me’
Finally, even considering financial realities, women are willing to pay for the ring because it is symbolic.
“Even women who are financially independent have often grown up on a steady diet of romantic comedies, social media offerings, and wedding dress marketing in which the ring is framed as evidence of worth and desirability,” Miller says.
For many women, “the engagement ring is still a public symbol that says, ‘Someone is committed to me and is willing to show it to the world.'”
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