A recent study from The Independent newspaper has suggested that couples who meet online are six more times more likely to divorce in early years of marriage.
Divorce rates are six times higher in the early years of marriage for couples who met online than in those who met at university or through friends and family, a new study has found.
A survey of 2,000 ever-married adults aged 30 and over found that couples who met online since the year 2000 had a 12 per cent risk of divorce in the first three years of marriage, compared to two per cent for those who met via social connections.
The news may come as a shock to the many couples who’ve met via dating apps which have boomed in popularity over recent years.
Here’s the key stats in numbers:
- Couples that meet online are at a 17 per cent risk of divorce according to the stats
- This was compared to the 10 per cent that met in other ways, such as through friends/family or at a restaurant
- Marriage Foundation surveyed 2,000 adults as part of this survey
- The adults surveyed were all aged 30 and over
- Online meetings are the most popular place to meet a husband or wife, 30 per cent of those have married in the last two years
- Marriage from meeting online was just 1 per cent in the 1990s and 7 per cent in the 2000s.
- The study also found that after years of marriage, those who met through the workplace have the highest rate of divorce – at 24 per cent.
- This was compared to the 20 per cent of those who met online, 19 per cent who met in a bar/restaurant and 15 per cent via friends of neighbours.