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Where to find a date on Valentine’s Day

Do you feel like you’re unlucky in love? At the Australian Bureau of Statistics, we don’t believe in luck. We just believe in data. And love.

Accordingly, when thinking about Valentine’s Day 2017, we couldn’t help but start calculating who’s lucky in love, where they live, and what they do. So let’s take a statistical look at Valentine’s Day.

Where is (and isn’t) the love?

People who say that “love is all around” might not be telling the entire truth, because the 2011 Census data reveals that some neighbourhoods contain fewer coupled-up folks than others.

For example, the suburbs of Carlton in Victoria, Murdoch in WA and Haymarket in NSW have the highest proportions of people aged between 18 and 50 who aren’t married or in a de facto relationship.

You might be luckier in love, however, if you live in Tieri, Dundowran Beach, or Augustine Heights in Queensland which have the highest proportions of people who are in de facto or registered marriages in Australia.

Farmer doesn’t need a wife

Hard work perhaps, but what if your line of work said something about your odds in love?

Those working in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industry also appear to have been hit by Cupid’s arrow, reporting the highest proportion of people in registered or de facto marriages than any other industry, according to the 2011 Census. On the other hand, those working in the accommodation and food services industry might have to work harder to find 'the one', with the lowest proportion of people in registered or de facto marriages.

Love is the sweetest thing

But it’s even sweeter if you add chocolate. While ABS Australian Health Survey statistics indicate that 16.6 per cent of Australians consume chocolate on any given day, it’s safe to say that it’s going to be well above that on 14 February.  On a normal day, plain chocolate is the favourite, with 7 per cent of people reporting to have consumed it, while chocolate based confectionery with other fillings was second most consumed, followed by chocolate based confectionery with nuts.

Roses are red

If you’ve left your run a bit late and the local supermarket has sold out of heart-shaped chocolate, there’s always the option of impressing your special someone with flowers. Our 2011 Census data indicates that Australia had 5,215 florists, and our bet is they’re going to be working overtime to help the nation’s Romeos and Juliettes this Valentine’s Day. Those poor petals.

I love you baby(sitter)

If you have young kids, it’s a distinct possibility that you and your Valentine might want some alone time. But if you’re not willing to run the risk of a Macaulay Culkin / Home Alone scenario, you’d better get a babysitter. However, babysitters might be in high demand in Queensland and the Northern Territory. These two places have the highest proportion of children aged 14 and under in Australia, according to latest ABS Australian Demographic  Statistics.

South Australian and Tasmanian couples on the other hand may have enjoyed a few Valentine’s Days together, with those states hosting the largest proportion of people aged 65 years and over (and the lowest proportions of children and working age population).

First comes love, then comes…?

Couples getting married this Valentine’s Day may be older than couples who married in 1995, with the average age of marriage increasing by about three years to 30.1 years of age for men, and 28.5 for women over the past two decades, according to latest ABS marriages and divorces data.

But love can come to an end. The average age of divorcing couples is now about five years older than two decades ago (45.3 for men and 42.7 for women).

While Valentine’s Day may be thought of as the most romantic day for a wedding, ABS data shows that March and October were the most popular months to register a marriage in 2015. June and July were the least popular months.

This post was supplied to Mamamia by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.