Should Men Still Pay On A First Date?

People seem to think so.

First date
First date
(Image credit: Rex)

People seem to think so.

Feminism. It's all anyone has been able to talk about for most of 2016. So, why then, do most people still believe men should pick up the cheque on a first date?

That's right.

A survey, by NerdWallet, shows that 77.4 per cent of people in a relationship believe men should pay the bill on a first date. Both genders feel the same, with men even more likely to think they should cover the costs (82.4 per cent of men said they should, compared to 72.5 per cent of women).

About 19 per cent felt the bill should be split in some way and only 3.7 per cent said men should not pay the bill.

Can this be? It is still 2016, right?

Women aged between 25 and 34 have emerged from the survey as the most demanding and ages 18 to 24 as the least.

It doesn't stop there, though. This pattern continues once the relationship gets going, with 59 per cent of women saying their partner pays for evenings out and 56.1 per cent of men saying they pick up the tab. Roughly 40 per cent of both men and women surveyed say they take turns or split the costs of going out.

'The findings show how resilient traditional gender roles are when it comes to who pays for evenings out and household bills,' says Shiyan Koh, vice president of personal finance at NerdWallet. 'It suggests that while women are greater economic force in the economy and at home, financial decision making is still a male pursuit.'