Women may be making their mark in schools and the workplace, but when it comes to dating, equality ends there: Men are still more likely to pick up the tab.

That’s according to the findings of a U.S. survey of more than 17,000 men and women on NBCNEWS.com. It found 84 per cent of men and 58 per cent of women report that men pay for most expenses even after dating for a while.

However, nearly two-thirds of men said they believed women should contribute to dating expenses and 44 per cent they would stop dating a woman who never pays.

That should serve as a wakeup call to women, says Janet Lever, co-author of the study “Who Pays for Dates?”, which was presented at the American Sociological Association meeting in New York on Sunday.

“Going out on a date, it’s scary business. Beginning dates are not easy. That’s one reason why people rely on tradition,” Lever said in an interview.

Women have long pushed for equality in areas where they have gotten the short end of the stick. But this is one rare instance where women have benefited, thanks to chivalry.

But after a few dates, women should be offering to treat, pay for movie tickets, or at least, getting the tip, Lever said.

Otherwise, the men they were dating might suddenly stop calling, but they’ll never know if it’s because they refused to take out their wallets.

“They might be missing out on a great guy,” said Lever, who teaches sociology at California State University at Los Angeles, adding she sees more equality in the courtship rituals among younger Americans such as her students.

Lever said one young man told her he always says on a first date, “Would you allow me to treat you?” That sends an implied message, and Lever said, the man said women usually contribute their share in following dates.

The survey also found that 39 per cent of women wished men would reject their offers to pay and 44 per cent said they were bothered when men expected them to pay.

But Lever warned that there’s no free lunch, because the price of chivalry might come in the form of other demands, whether it’s traditional roles, a controlling person or even sex.

More than three-quarters of men, however, reported feeling guilty accepting women’s money.

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“Social values are hard to change, and you are seeing a bundle of contradictions,” she said.

Even if men are paying a larger proportion of expenses, four in 10 men and women agreed that dating expenses were at least partially shared within the first month, and 74 per cent of men and 83 per cent of women reported some sharing of expenses by six months.