It's a conception that you'll find high-income couples who've opted out of parenthood unabashedly shopping artisan cheese sections, high-fiving exotic fish on scuba trips or lounging on chaises inside Dwell magazine spreads. For better or for worse, DINKs certainly have a lot of haters, as hilariously captured in the launch video for DINKlife.com, a new SF-based website dedicated to embracing and celebrating the DINK (Dual Income No Kids) lifestyle.
DINKlife.com launched last month after founders (and couple) Katelyn Watson and Cory Jones found themselves isolated in between two groups of friends on different steps of the life ladder. "Half of them were going to PTA meetings and the other half were spending their days on match.com and their nights in single bars," says Jones. "We looked at this and realized that there was a gap between the commonly recognized life stages of singlehood and family that wasn't really being spoken to." DINKlife.com aims to fill that void with travel, money, relationship, career and life tips geared towards high-income couples without children. As an example, the site's most popular article to date is "The Dreaded Baby Question."
DINKs are a growing group. The 2010 US Census reports that in the last 40 years, the percentage of couples who had kids in the first three years of marriage has declined from 70% to only 30%. What used to be a quick transitional period (basically, how long it took couples to get pregnant after they got married) has now become a life stage in itself. With Dinklife.com, Jones hopes to tap into that market and bring in DINK-focused advertisers and marketers.
What's next? DINKlife.com aims to roll out a meetup feature, where like-minded couples can organize dinners, wine tastings, projects and other adventures. It will be sort of "play date" feature for grownups, with a large volunteer and community service driver. "It's all about how you can make the best of your time and money when you're not a parent or putting your money into a college fund," says Jones.
