Taking people out on dates costs money, and to have money most people need a job. Thus, it goes without saying that unemployment has had a big effect on the dating world. However, why are men struggling so much?

Recent studies have suggested that men have been hit much harder by the on going recession than women have. Almost 80 percent of job losses that have taken place since December 2007 were jobs that were held by men. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, April unemployment had a seasonal adjustment of 10 percent for men and only 7.6 percent for women.

For many men, unemployment is the last thing that they would want to reveal to a potential date. Even if the man knows that he is not expected to pay for the date, most men agree that they feel pressure from women who have revealed that they are looking for a man that is financially stable.

The chief relationship expert at Perfectmatch.com, Pepper Schwartz, says that most men are very careful to not use the word, unemployed. Instead, they try to come up with different ways to say unemployment that does not sound permanent. Popular sayings from men include, “I’m on sabbatical,” “I’m in transition,” “I’m working on a project.” This all leads up to the same thing - he’s unemployed.

Some dating experts do point out that it is not a two-way street. Women who are unemployed have a lot less of a hard time trying to find a date than a man does. Most agree, although it may be a social taboo, that this all links back to genre roles. Putting it simply, many people in the dating world still view men as the providers, and one that is unemployed may not be able to provide the woman with what she wants.