Happy Wednesday readers! Love is in the air today as we’re unpacking the data on relationships.
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How couples meet
Gone are the days of arranged marriages or *tactically* falling over in front of cute men, meeting someone in the digital age is as easy as swiping right on your phone.
In fact, meeting your significant other (SO) online has become the most popular method of matchmaking. Thirty-nine percent of people met their SO online in 2017, compared with just 2% in 1995.
How couples really meet
A wave of dating apps released in the last 30 years have revolutionised the meet cute. And two big conglomerates are leading the way: Match group, which owns Tinder, Hinge, and Match.com, among others; and Bumble Inc, which owns Bumble and Badoo.
Let’s take a look at their revenues for 2022.
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People are getting married later
Not only have couples adopted more digital matchmaking strategies, they are also waiting later to tie the knot. Whilst the 1950s saw some of the youngest average marriage ages, couples are now choosing to wait until their late twenties or early thirties to get married.
Just one of the many reasons for this shift is that both men and women are choosing to prioritise personal growth and career aspirations.
Who do we spend most of our time with?
Interestingly, we do not spend most of our time with our partners. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, humans spend an overwhelming majority of their lives alone.
This chart is particularly thought-provoking so we shall let it speak for itself (although we encourage you to pay particular attention to the dark green line).
We’re curious: how did you meet your significant other? Share your answer in the poll below (and definitely tell us your meet cute stories!)
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Very surprising to see that increase in couples meeting via Bar/Restaurant! I'd really like to see a comparison from 2010 to the present instead of 1995 (pre-Internet). What's the short term trend of the past ten years? And split it out <30 vs >30.
Also what is the point of having a partner if you don't spend time with them? My partners have always been "glued" to me!
These statistics are probably severely warped by two years of lockdown, with few possibilties of 'natural" social interactions.