February 13th, 2024, Bhawna Singh
With Valentine’s Day this week, recent YouGov Survey found that almost three in ten (28%) Singaporeans intend to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year (including singles), but the majority will not.
Men were more likely than women to say they will be celebrating the festival of love with their partner (30% vs 21%). Among the generations, millennials were by far the most likely to celebrate with a partner, at 32%. On the other hand, GenZ singles were most likely to say they will not celebrate this day.
Almost one in five Singaporeans (20%) also say that they would be open to celebrating Valentine’s Day with someone they’d been dating for less than a month. A quarter (24%) would wait slightly longer (2-5 months of dating), one in six (17%) between 6-11 months, and 16% would celebrate after at least a year of dating.
YouGov’s data revealed that a similar proportion of Singaporeans would say I love you (18%) to their partner within the span of a month. However, the highest proportion of people (25%) believe the ideal time of saying the three love words would be within two-five months of dating.
While Singaporeans are open to meeting their partner’s friends (70%), saying I love you (64%) and celebrating Valentine’s Day (61%) under a year of dating, they expect a longer timeline for more serious life events.
A large proportion are open to meeting each other’s parents or family (49%) and going on a holiday together (43%) within a year of seeing someone but a majority believes that a person should have been dating for at least a year and more or be engaged or married before buying a house or moving in with their partner.
From all the relationship milestones, Singaporeans are most divided on the idea of having sex, with a third (33%) saying it is acceptable to do so within a year of dating while another third (34%) believes one must be engaged or married before getting intimate with their partner.
Having a baby is looked at as the most serious commitment with nearly half (47%) saying you need to be engaged or married to take this responsibility.
According to the data, the ideal timeline for important relationship milestones varies according to gender. Men are more likely than women to say they would go on a holiday together (50% men vs 37% women) and have sex (42% vs 25%) in less than a year of dating, however women would prefer to have sex (42% vs 26%) or have a baby (56% vs 38%) once they are engaged or married.
Women are also more comfortable than men in meeting each other’s parents or family (41% vs 32%) as well as moving in together (42% vs 36%) after a year or more of dating.
Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. This study was conducted online in January 2024, with a national sample of 1,026 Singapore residents, using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Data figures have been weighted by age, gender, and ethnicity to be representative of all adults in Singapore (18 years or older) and reflect the latest Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS) estimates. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.