Statistics

Looks like this post is a week late. From September 20 until the 26 in 2009 it was National Singles Week. In the 1980s, the Buckeye Singles Council of Ohio started this observance which falls on the third full week of September. It was started to

... acknowledge that many unmarried Americans do not identify with the word “single” because they are parents, have partners or are widowed.

Here are some recent interesting facts and statistics on singles in America:

• There are now 95.9 million unmarried people in the U.S. who are 18 years or older. This makes up 43 percent of all adults. (from 2008)
• 53 percent of these singles are women
• 61 percent of these singles never have been married before. 24 percent have been divorced and a further 15 percent were widowed.
• Seniors (65+) account for 15.8 million of adult singles which 16 percent having never been married.
• 11.6 million of adult singles are parents living with their children, 9.8 million are women.

For the full fact sheet on the Unmarried and Single Americans Week, visit the U.S. Census Bureau.

A press release from Chemistry highlights the fact their chief scientific advisor Dr. Helen Fisher, has determined through research that success in the bedroom may lead to a more rewarding career. In a study she did using data from 40,000 Chemistry members where 56 percent were woman and the average age was 27, Dr. Fisher found:

... increased sexual activity may lead to an improvement in problem-solving, confidence and teamwork.

These skills may see improvements due to the fact of the chemicals which are released in the human body during sexual activities. As example, sex increases testosterone which has been linked to self confidence. The rush some people feel during sex is due to Dopamine, which has been linked to improved creativity. After sex both women and men receive a boost of Oxytocin and Vasopressin. These chemicals generate trust and attachment. These personality traits are all tied to how well you succeed in life, therefore a person who excels in all of these personality traits most likely will have a successful career as well.

To find out more about the dating site Dr. Helen Fisher represents, check out our Chemistry review.

I am glad to see eHarmony responding in their official blog to an article titled "Marriage-Maker Claims Are Tied in Knots " from the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ article examines some of the marriage statistics released by dating sites like eHarmony as well as the methodology used to calculate such statistics. We talked a bit about this topic as well, a couple of weeks ago when the original WSJ article was published (see Story).

The WSJ article didn't look to kindly on the stats released by dating sites, and for the most part I agree with the author. The public does need to know how these statistics are generated. Of all the dating sites mentioned in the WSJ article, "eHarmony stands out as among the more careful ones". This is not exactly a glowing report for eHarmony so, they decided to post a response on their blog.

In the eHarmony blog post they go into further details on how they calculated that their dating site was responsible for 2% of marriages in the United States, from the 12-month period ending March 2007. Most of the information we already knew about from a previously released PDF file titled "eHarmony | Harris Interactive 2007 Marriage Metrics Number of eHarmony Marriages" (see Story), but the post does flush out a few more details. What this blog post does show is, eHarmony is trying to be as open and transparent with their research findings as possible. I think the name "Open Communication" may indeed be a good choice for the official eHarmony blog.

Here is the full eHarmony response to the Wall Street Journal about how they calculate their marriage statistics. For further information about this dating site, read our review of eHarmony.

There is an interesting article in the New York Times about evolutions role in finding a partner. Most people believe when it comes to dating, women usually are pickier than men.

The usual explanation is evolutionary: because women have a bigger investment in reproduction — they are the ones who have to endure pregnancy, childbirth and breast-feeding — they need to hedge their bets against selecting a dud to be the father.

With the rise of Speed Dating, Psychologists now have easier access to information in a semi controlled environment to test this theory of women being more selective about their mate. Eli Finkel and Paul Eastwick of Northwestern University have recently published a experiment they did which challenges the current thinking. They found that it didn't matter what sex the person was. A person who initiates contact, in regards to going out on a date, tends to be less selective about who he or she asks when compared to the person who is being asked.

Some surprising finds in the UK for men and women who start dating in their sixties, seventies, and eighties. As divorce rates rise, singles older than 60 is a growing trend. A lot of baby boomers have found that once their children have left home, they were the only thing holding their broken marriage together. When you combine this with our longer life spans when compared to previous generations, there are a lot more seniors who are single, than there use to be.

Match.com has said on numerous occasions that the older generation is their fastest growing market. Also, according to eHarmony's UK dating site, 30 percent of men over the age of 65 live alone and the figure doubles to 60 percent for woman. Why is there such a huge percentage difference between men and woman? I think it comes down to two factors. First women on average live 5 to 10 years longer than men and with the about equal gender split in the world you are going to have many more women single due to them being widowed. The second factor is, men tend to go out with younger women. Therefore a man who is 65 and living with someone (and included in eHarmony's statistic), is more likely than not, living with a woman under the age of 65 (and not included in the statistic).

For the rest of the story, read The Guardian. If you are a senior and interested in online dating, read our Match.com or eHarmony review. You could also check out our Dating Over 50 category for a list of dating sites specifically for older singles.

From a survey which looked at dating and married couples relationships, researchers learned that the primary predictor of happiness in a relationship is your perception of, if your partner motivates and supports you to live up to your dreams and aspirations. With married couples there was one additional need found that is required to make a marriage a successful one. You must feel that your partner is helping you with your current obligations and responsibilities.

The significant finding, the researchers say, is that we often believe that if our dating partner gives us support to follow our dreams, they’ll probably support other parts of our life, namely our immediate responsibilities. But the ability to inspire a partner is not an accurate predictor of support for the more mundane and immediate obligations. And this can sometimes lead to a rude awakening when the church bells ring.

77 married couples and 92 dating couples participated in this survey which is to be published this summer in the journal, Psychological Science.

For the full story, read Scientific American.