Some people weren’t alive in the dark days before the Internet, but way back then, people used to meet romantic partners through people they knew. In the 1940s, most couples in the U.S. reported meeting their partner through friends, family, or school. But by the 1970s, when more women were working outside the home, there was a rise in the couples who met as coworkers.
Between the late 70s and the early 1990s, one in five couples reported having met at work, but that number is on the decline, according to recent research. A new studyfinds that today, just over 10% of couples say they got together from a workplace romance. So why are fewer people hooking up with coworkers? Online dating. Now about 40% of all American couples meet their partners online.
Sure, dating apps have their downsides, they’re still really popular. But the fact fewer couples are getting involved in workplace romances isn’t a bad thing. Just ask anyone who’s ever been in one that ended badly and they still had to go to work and face their ex every day.