Engagement season is here, and according to The Knot, December is the most popular month for proposals around the world.
And while men have traditionally been expected to pay big bucks for that diamond (as Beyoncé said in 2008, he “should have put a ring on it”), many women are changing their expectations about who buys them.
According to a recent Holiday Engagement Survey of 1,000 U.S. adults affiliated with DatingAdvice.com, nearly 71% (70.6%) of women said they would be willing to donate the cost of an engagement ring.
About 19% said they would pay for the ring in full, about 23% said they would pay in part, and 29% said they would donate if needed.
Here’s why Natashia Miller, a certified sexologist and founder of sex and relationship coaching company Wanderlust, thinks women’s mindset may be changing.
Recently, the number of dual-income couples is increasing.
According to the Pew Research Center, more couples, with or without children, are earning two salaries than they were a decade ago.
Pew says that, on average, the gender pay gap still exists, but in some U.S. metropolitan areas, women under 30 earn as much or more than men.
“Now, with more working couples and more women delaying marriage while building their careers, they’re becoming more open to treating the ring as a shared investment,” Miller says.
Some “couples are more realistic”
This jewelry is expensive. According to The Knot, the average price of an engagement ring is $5,200.
And headlines abound about Americans’ economic hardship. For example, overall prices have increased 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 Intuit Credit Karma survey.
“Given that background, it makes sense that couples would be more realistic,” Miller says. “Rather than one partner going into debt to meet a given ring budget, some women prefer to split the cost and make the purchase more realistic.”
It is a “public symbol” that “someone was committed to me.”
Finally, women are willing to pay for the ring because it is symbolic, while still considering their financial realities.
“Even financially independent women often grew up on a diet of romantic media, social media proposals, and bridal marketing that displays rings as evidence of worth and desirability,” Miller says.
For many women, “an engagement ring remains a public symbol that someone is committed to me and is willing to show the world.”
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