Do Women Really Care About Money When Choosing A Partner?

Excuse us while we lamely quote a motivational line we found in the backwaters of Instagram, but a wise man once said, “Money is like love; it kills slowly and painfully the one who withholds it, and enlivens the other who turns it on his fellow man.”

You following us? Let us rephrase that so that it's totally relevant to this here article. For women, money is like sex; it'll kill your relationship slowly and painfully if not plentiful enough, and greatly arouse the one it is bestowed bountifully upon.

Look, we don't want to pander to outdated gender stereotypes or anything, but we have to admit, a pair of Chanel sneakers would totally get us wet. And as much as we would love to think that in our modern times, we independent women don't care about money when looking for a partner, according to a new report, it would seem that the size of a man's wallet is still a major deal-breaker.

While Fidelity's Single Women & Money Study has shown that women are becoming more independent than ever when it comes to their finances, that doesn't mean they are any less money-oriented when it comes to dating. 64 percent of single women said that financial stability is the second most important characteristic they're looking for in a partner, behind honesty and integrity. Men on the other hand, placed honesty, physical attraction and a shared level of intelligence before financial stability.

When it comes to make-or-break factors, 52 percent of single women said that a financially controlling partner was a turn off as opposed to only 32 percent of single men. Other deal-breaking factors included significant debt, poor spending habits and not being willing to talk about money.

What do these results say about the modern woman? It's not so much that we are stuck in the old times and need to be financially reliant on a partner – although the odd pair of Chanel sneaks would be reaaaal nice – it's more likely that, after putting in the hard work and persistence to build our financial independence, we're not willing to lose it to a partner sponging off us.

That doesn't mean that we're shallow and superficial – we love men for their hearts and dicks, too – it just means that we're looking out for number one, which, considering our daily jostle with the patriarchy, can only be a good thing.

Who pays for the first date though? Hmm...

Next up, five alternatives to crawling into a hole on Valentine's Day.