Time Out Global Dating Survey – The Results!

So … regular readers will remember last month I launched the Time Out Global Dating Survey, as part of my new global role as Head of Dating for the multimedia group. I’m not gonna lie – it’s a rather exciting place to work, and the response to the survey was incredible.  Over 11,000 people in 24 cities responded to the survey, which you can read here.

You might have seen some of the biggest headlines in the press this morning – of the 11,000 respondents, a whopping majority named British accents as the hottest in the world, something many are attributing to Monsieurs Cumberbatch and Redmayne!

However, as well as the bigger headlines, I thought I might share a couple of exclusive insights I got, from crunching all the data.

Let’s start off with jobs, as I know this was a controversial one this morning on Twitter!  Unfortunately some cliches will never change! Despite the realities of dating a lawyer or banker (one of the girls I studied law with at uni texted me at 1.30am a few nights ago, from work!) a worrying number of women listed both professions as their idea dates.  And whilst it was lovely to see so many people not bothered by profession, and saying things like ‘I don’t mind, as long as he/she is doing something they love’, in almost every city some women answered with ‘good money’ or ‘earns more than me.’

Some of the funniest data came from professions people didn’t want to date.  Whilst the question was asking about an ideal date, LOTS of respondents focussed on what they DON’T want … and Comedians, actors and bartenders were the main culprits there.

This was the question which I realised (too late), that you should never watch a partner answer!  When the Time Out Dating Survey first went live, I made the Rugby Boy answer it, and casually looked to see what percentage of first dates he normally ended with a kiss.  85% …. 85%!!! That’s almost 9 out of every 10!!! And we didn’t kiss on our first date!!

When I called him up on this, he pointed at his answer to ‘An awkward goodbye’.  5% …

“That 5% is you!”

The global average for this is 58% … Now there are two interesting points to be made on these stats.

1) Only 58%???? People are blatantly lying!  Most of my non-single friends would end up looking up my dates too … and I know that’s not uncommon behaviour ahead of a date, so if anything the number should be over 100%!

2) It’s interesting that 73% of Parisians check people out online ahead of a date, and yet it was the city where least people met online.  Paris was the only city where the majority of meet ups were said to happen in real life!

So the Parisians meet at parties …. and then go home to Facebook stalk the men they meet! 😉

Of all the illustrations, this one of the Statue of Liberty holding the Tinder flame has to be my favourite, and not just because Liberty is on Tinder and holding a self help book!  The stat about New Yorkers being most unhappy with their single status is a real contradiction against the stereotype … and perhaps suggests dating in New York is far more like Girls than Sex in the City.  Another interesting stat about New York, which you won’t find in the infographic, is the contrasting numbers when it comes to first time sex …

Ok, so in terms of when it’s ok to broach the topic of sex, ‘The World’ says after 3.53 dates.  Which means us London women are decidedly average … we said 3.57, while London men will broach it sooner (obviously!) … 3.03 (the good old third date rule).

However what I found really interesting was that London women seem to be WAY easier than New York women!  The average for NY ladies was 4.61.  Possibly leaving the NY men rather disappointed … they were more eager than British men, and said an average of 2.6 dates!  Sounds like the men of New York and ladies of London should be getting together!

The other big question – when do you get serious – is an interesting one.  The World had a rather definitive answer of after 6 dates.   This was a stat which varied on each side of the Pond.  In London, men were prepared to become exclusive after just 4 dates, with women after 5.  However in New York, men need to wait for 6 dates, and the women for 7.  The most dramatic difference … leading to probably the most turbulent dating scene  … is LA.  Women are prepared to get to almost the 8th date before deciding to go exclusive, whilst men wan exclusivity after Date Number 4.

The first impressions stat isn’t surprising, though as someone who is dating a guy she didn’t really fancy until at least the second date, I would definitely advise against writing people off too quickly.

One final stat, which you won’t find in the overall infographic, but which did make me giggle a lot …

Who do you think the biggest players are?

Time Out asked the world how many people they date at the same time, and interestingly most of the responses were between 2 and 3.  Except in Hong Kong.  On average, the guys in HK who answered the survey were dating 4 women at the same time.  That’s almost double the London men, and 1 more woman at a time than the New Yorkers! #player

Miss Twenty-Nine xxx