Bumble's sex and relationship expert Dr. Caroline West joined Jennifer Zamparelli on RTÉ 2FM to share her tips for navigating dating when living with parents or in shared accommodation. Listen back above.
New research from the dating app has revealed that 70% of adults in Ireland find it more difficult to date when living at home with parents or housemates.
"It's basically quite a miserable situation for a lot of people, regardless of gender or if you're in the country or in Dublin, it's pretty difficult to date when you're living at home with parents or with ten people in a flat-share or whatever unfortunate situation that people are in."
Dr. West says the research was mainly focused on the 20-35 age bracket and explains that singletons are having to get creative when they want to have any kind of alone time with their date.
If you're living with housemates, Dr. West suggests coming to an agreement when it comes to bartering for time alone. Perhaps a week of doing the dishes could earn you a couple of hours of peace?
If you're living at home with your parents, the dating expert makes the point that your mam and dad are probably in need of a date night themselves, and perhaps you could fund their next dinner and a movie in order to free up the house.
"It's about compromise and maybe addressing the fact with your parents that, yes, you are dating, and yes, you would like to have quality time," she says, accepting that this particular conversation will likely be awkward but potentially worthwhile.
If a night alone isn't on the cards, Dr. West advises couples to find intimacy in other ways, encouraging daters to discuss their love languages and find out what's important to them, whether it be cuddling up while watching a movie or always making them a cup of tea without having to ask.
Usually, we would avoid introducing our parents to a significant other until they are, well, significant. However, if you're living at home and don't want to keep spending money to spend time with someone new, you may have no choice but to make introductions.
"I think accepting that everyone is awkward about this and everyone is uncomfortable so taking that brave step and saying, 'look, mam and dad, please don't embarrass me about bringing someone home, I just want to get to know them."
To listen back to the full interview with Dr. West on RTÉ 2FM, listen back above.
