How seniors find love online

As people get older, making connections becomes increasingly difficult.

Loneliness can be deadly. A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago tracked people over the age of 50 for six years. It found people who reported chronic feelings of isolation or loneliness had a 14 percent greater likelihood of dying than the sample as a whole. Loneliness, it turned out, was twice as deadly as being extremely overweight. Another study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that social isolation was associated with a plethora of serious ailments from lung disease to depression.

Among seniors, loneliness is a huge issue. As spouses pass on and marriages dissolve into divorce, an increasing number of older people are finding themselves alone. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are over 107 million single people in the United States, and around a third of them are over the age of 50. That’s at least 35 million single seniors. It’s a number that, as the baby-boomer generation moves into old age, is only going to swell.

While a desire to move out of the single category shouldn’t be automatically assumed, people are social animals, and the need for companionship is nearly universal. As people get older, making connections becomes increasingly difficult.

In an era when one third of new marriages got their start on the Internet, it isn’t surprising that an ever-growing number of seniors are looking to online dating sites.

The rise of specialty dating sites

You are on a a dating site specifically designed to cater to the needs of seniors.