How We Met: The Demography of Online and Offline Partnerships

Bernice Kuang, University of Southampton
Brienna Perelli-Harris, University of Southampton
Ann M. Berrington, University of Southampton

Increased internet use has radically changed how partners meet, yet few studies have investigated how partnerships formed online have developed over time and across countries. In previous decades, couples primarily met through friends and family, work, or at local venues. With the advent of the internet in the 1990s, couples began to meet through dating sites or other online fora, raising questions about whether partnerships formed on and offline systematically differ or are selective of certain characteristics. Using the Generations and Gender Surveys, we analyse the increase in first co-residential partnerships which began online, comparing 14 countries in Europe. The GGSs were conducted from 2020-23, reflecting the Covid-19 pandemic, which may have exacerbated online lives even further. We first examine selection into meeting online, and then use competing risk hazard models to see if there are differences in marriage and dissolution rates between those who met online and offline, controlling for factors like education, religion, and migration background. We use interaction terms to identify changes over time in the likelihood of marriage or dissolution for online and offline partnerships. This investigation sheds light on whether the dramatic change in how partners meet may be changing family formation and dissolution.

Keywords: Families, Unions and Households

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