That said, housing shortages and increasing university fees mean that many continue to live with their parents until they get married. In the Netherlands, gender is less of an important factor when it comes to determining a person’s role and duties in the family home. Men and women tend to share their responsibilities equally in terms of doing household chores and raising their children. Furthermore, women often have the freedom to choose how they contribute to the household dynamic. As a result, a smaller proportion of Dutch women choose to work full-time; compared to many other cultures.

For example, it wouldn’t be the best idea to take a 20-year-old to your favorite bar. If you were the person to issue the invitation and initiate the date, you should be the person to pick up the cost of the date. This is true regardless of your gender even though in the past it was considered the norm for the man to pay for the date.

There is an expression that says “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” This is especially true when it comes to dating. That impression will be formed on that first experience and, although that impression can be altered over time, that first impression is what they are going to remember. Using dating etiquette will ensure that you make a great impression on your dates.

The thing is you never really know someone until you invest time and experiences together and over that time you can slowly build trust. The first few dates and messages are for learning about others, seeing if you are attracted to that person, discovering if there is chemistry etc. If you need qualifiers, work on your people reading skills i.e. analyze photo, photo captions, app choice, messaging, prompts/answers, lifestyle, work status etc.

Focus on matching with people who actually align with your dating goals. OK, so maybe being rich wasn’t a dating rule in the ’50s. However, men were expected to bring enough money along so that the woman didn’t have to pay for anything.

And no, it is not only for the first dates, but for all the ones that follow. The first date, and you hope it is the start of something wonderful, there is a dating etiquette to follow! Like the start of every relationship, personal or professional, there are some do’s and don’t with the first date etiquette list too. Pandemic aside, it’s about time we ditched the antiquated dating rules. The dating laws defined by romance movies and novels with Fabio lookalikes on the cover.