Badoo.com study reveals Brits are unhappy with their Social Lives
BRITS KEEP CALM AND STAY IN
New study reveals money pressures are leaving Brits unhappy with their social lives
· Overall, 38% (14M) Brits unhappy with their social lives
· Nearly a quarter (24%) stay in on Saturday nights due to money worries
· Three quarters (77%) haven’t yet made plans for NYE and over half (53%) expect to stay in
· Over a third (36%) of Brits won’t be having a Christmas party this year
· 1 in 10 Brits stay in on a Saturday night to watch shows like X-Factor
· ‘Eating Out’ is nation’s most popular pastime (40%), drinking in the pub trails behind (29%)
16th November 2011: A new survey commissioned by Badoo, the world’s largest social network for meeting new people, today reveals the average Brit’s social life is suffering due to financial pressures and stresses of modern life. Almost a quarter of us (24%) admit to not going out on a Saturday night due to money worries and over a third (38%) stay in regularly because they need to relax.
The poll of over 2,000 adults in the UK, gives an insight into the ‘average Brit’s’ social life in 2011 and reveals we aren’t the sociable nation you might think. Almost a third of respondents (32%) admit to staying in every Saturday night. It seems even the festive season can’t coax us into socialising more with a quarter (25%) of respondents saying they won’t increase the amount they go out during the Christmas period. New Year 2012 might be a damp squib since over three quarters of us (77%) haven’t yet made plans for New Year’s Eve and over half (53%) expect to be staying in. With companies having to tighten their belts, over a third of respondents said they won’t be having an office Christmas party (36%).
Based on a typical week, nearly a quarter of respondents (23%) said they didn’t go out at all, and just over a third (36%) go out just once a week. But it seems we aren’t happy with our social situations; over a third of respondents (38%) admitted to wanting a better social life and almost half (49%) said they feel that if they had an easier way to meet new people their social life would improve.
An Average Saturday Night in Britain...
The results of the research give Saturday night the official title of most popular night of the week to go out, chosen by almost half of the respondents (45%). Friday night comes a close second (33%) but unsurprisingly Monday and Sunday are the least popular days to socialise.
Whilst relaxing and saving money are the top reasons for choosing not to go out on the week’s most sociable night, despite tumbling ratings more than 1 in 10 people admit to staying in to watch shows like the X Factor.
A Nation of Foodies...
Surprisingly it isn’t visiting the local boozer that takes the crown for the most popular British pastime but ‘eating out’. Restaurants took 40% of the votes surpassing the pub (29%), cinema (10%), theatre (6%), attending sporting events (5%) and nightclubs (4%).
Don’t wait up...
Or rather, do. Later licenses made much of an impact on the time we get home. On average the most popular time to get back from a night out is 11pm with a third of people choosing this time, almost a quarter (24%) chose midnight. Only 10% chose 1am and just 6% arrived home at 2am.
The Morning After...
Despite our ‘Booze Britain’ image it seems we’re fairly clean living with more than two thirds of people saying they didn’t suffer from hangovers at all (68%) in an average week. Almost 1 in 5 (20%) of us have a hangover once a week and less than 1% of respondents admitted to being hung over more than four times a week.
Lloyd Price, a spokesman for Badoo.com, which carried out the study, commented: “Brits have a reputation for always being out having a good time but our survey shows that perhaps people aren’t as sociable as we might think. Money worries are certainly having an impact but it’s clear that people would welcome new ways to meet like-minded people to improve their social life. Badoo helps you find and meet up with people who have similar interests in your local area – no costly trips or dates to meet up, and the service is free to use.”