Payment includes more than subscriptions
Pew’s measure includes people who paid for a platform as well as people who bought extra features on a service they were already using. It does not isolate monthly subscriptions from one-off boosts or other purchases.
The phrase ‘have paid at some point’ also means this is not the share currently paying.
Payment varies with household income
Among online-dating users, 45% of upper-income adults had paid, compared with 36% of middle-income users and 28% of lower-income users.
The difference shows who reported paying, not whether a paid product produced more matches, dates, or relationships.
Do not turn payment into a success claim
A payment rate is a monetization statistic. It cannot prove that paid features improve outcomes without a study comparing like users and a defined result over a fixed period.
For personal budgeting, subscription costs belong alongside actual date spending. The two expenses answer different questions and should remain separate.