Survey: 85% of U.S. Couples Celebrate Valentine’s Day and More than Half of Men Have Taken the Day Off Work to Celebrate.
According to a recent Wakefield Research omnibus survey of 1,000 U.S. adults ages 18+, 85% of couples will celebrate Valentine’s Day this year. Millennial couples are the most dedicated to V-Day, with 94% planning to celebrate, compared to only 79% of Boomer couples whose V-Day devotion seems to have dwindled through the years.
It’s true that the novelty of Valentine’s Day can fade after a while. On average, couples stop celebrating Valentine’s Day 12 years into a relationship. Couples without children (57%) are more likely than parents (39%) to skip Valentine’s Day altogether, perhaps because parents are renewing their February 14 spirit through their little ones’ experiences – and love of cute cards and candy.
Couples aren’t the only ones who have fizzled out on their enthusiasm for Valentine’s Day. More than a quarter (29%) of single men dread Valentine’s more than going to the dentist – only 18% of single ladies agree. It looks like men might be in need of a Guy-lentine’s night out.
Still, some people are so in love with this day of love that they want to celebrate all day. In fact, more than half of employed men (52%) have taken a vacation day from work to celebrate Valentine’s Day, compared to just 28% of working women who have done the same.
Couples who still celebrate Cupid’s special day aren’t stingy when it comes to showing their love. 45% of couples estimate they will spend more than $100 on Valentine’s Day gifts. Men will open their wallets wider than women, with more than half of coupled-up men (54%) planning to spend more than $100, compared to 37% of women who expect to spend the same. And that divide falls in line with what couples think the other gender should spend: men think women should spend an average of $73 on V-day gifts, while women think men should spend an average of $89.