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“Cancel Valentine’s Day” say a 3rd of UK singles

13th February 2013 Print

According to the same survey 56% of UK singles feel bullied into finding a date for Valentine’s Day, and only 22% think they will actually have a date.

The survey of 1000 UK commissioned by dating website hititoff.co.uk, showed that most singles in the UK feel under significant pressure to have a date at Valentines, with only one in five actually expecting to have a date this Valentine’s Day, a value that shrinks to only 15% of women who answered.

For those of us a little black e-book bursting with potential dates Valentine’s Day might be a date night like any other, or even an occasion we feel confident enough to skip altogether. For those of us with significant others there can be stresses such as “where to go for the evening”, “how to find a babysitter “or “what gift to buy”, but for many single people (who are around a third of the adult population according to the Office for National Statistics) it seems that Valentine’s Day is a source of tremendous social and familial pressure.

The extent of the pressure was made clear in the survey (commissioned from Usurv.com), which went on to ask whether respondents would like to cancel Valentine’s Day altogether. Almost a third of respondents said they would. Perhaps because much of the responsibility requesting, arranging and paying for a date still falls on men, they were especially in favour of cancelling it, with 40% of men under 30 wanting to call the day off.

In a follow up survey singletons were asked to identify sources that contributed to the pressure. Of those who felt pressured, almost 30% blamed the media, but most people felt that friends (40%) and wider social pressures (a whopping 71%) were mostly responsible.

Interestingly women felt less pressure than men from friends and family and almost no pressure at all from workmates with only 3.5% of women feeling any pressure from their colleagues at work, compared to almost 20% of men. Women however felt even more societal pressure (82% compared to 61% of men).

Karen Couper, the Marketing Director at HitItOff said “This is a great time to be single with so many more opportunities for finding a date than ten years ago, but that just makes it all the more upsetting to be alone on a day like Valentine’s day.”

Stats

Is there too much social pressure to have a date on Valentine's day?
Yes 56% No 43%

Would you cancel Valentine's day if you could?
Yes 31% No 69%

Do you expect to have a date this year on Valentine's day?
Yes 22% No 78%

Do you expect to have a date this year on Valentine's day?
Male Yes 29% 15%
Female No 71% 85%

Where does that pressure come from? (choose up to three answers)
From friends 40%
From family 22%
From work mates 12%
From society generally 71%
From the media 28%