Valentine’s Day 2024 largely rejected by Australians amid cost of living crisis

Set dinner menus, expensive roses, average chocolates — if it’s all sounding familiar to you, you’re not the only one, Aussies are ditching Valentine’s Day in droves. Here’s why.

If you’ve canned your plans for a romantic dinner with candles and all the trimmings tonight, you’re not alone – so have most people.

Aussies are ditching Valentine’s Day in droves, with more than half the country rejecting the holiday this year, and it’s pretty easy to see why with massive cost of living pressures bearing down on the nation.

According to the data from YouGov, almost two thirds of Australians are coupled up, and the majority of those happy couples won’t be celebrating today.

And it’s great news if you’re the forgetful sort, because it turns out around half the nation won’t be upset if their significant other forgot about the day altogether, according to YouGov APAC CEO Laura Robbie.

“Interestingly enough, we’re seeing a trend against celebrating Valentine’s Day this year,” she said.

“Almost two thirds of Australians have said that they don’t intend to celebrate the day in any way, whether they’re in a relationship or not.

“Millennials appear to be the most likely to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year, but this is still less than half. Gen Z were a distant second with just more than a quarter likely to celebrate.”

Newly-coupled up folks, bless that new relationship glow, are keenest, with around a quarter of them saying they’re open to celebrating the day with someone they had been dating for less than a month.

Classic Australia, we’re more likely to take big steps like have sex (34 per cent), or meet each other’s friends (28 per cent) than celebrate Valentine’s Day in that first month of dating. Fair play, can’t be too keen.

Here's what we think about relationship milestones. Picture: YouGov

Around another quarter of of people said they would ideally be celebrating a little deeper into the relationship – between two-to-five months, and then the numbers start dropping off after that.

Getting down to the nitty gritty, it’s 60 per cent of Australians who said they won’t be celebrating the day at all. That’s most people!

Millennials were by far the most likely to celebrate with a partner, at 42 per cent. I fall firmly into this category, apologies to my wife if she’s reading, I bought chocolates, there’s no flowers but there will be a home-cooked meal.

Where we think we should be within a month of dating. Picture: YouGov

Distantly following were Gen Z at 28 per cent, Gen X at 24 per cent, Baby Boomers at 16 per cent, and the Silent Generation at 15 per cent. Go great grandma and grandpa, still keen on a date after all those years.

And if you’re on the lazier, or more forgetful side, don’t worry, only 28 per cent of Australians agreed that they would be upset if their partner forgot.

The allure of exchanging gifts also seems to be wearing off for this day, with only one in four (26 per cent) of Aussies agreeing this was an important part of the celebration.

WHAT IS VALENTINE’S DAY?

For those not in the know, Saint Valentine’s Day — or for the sceptical amongst us the Hallmark Holiday on February 14 – has existed since the days of the Roman Empire.

Rooted in both Christian and ancient Roman tradition, the auspicious day is named after Saint Valentine (duh), a Christian martyr and the patron saint of beekeepers.

Saint Valentine performing a blessing. Picture: Wikipedia

Legends say that he performed clandestine marriages for soldiers and was executed for defying Emperor Claudius II, who in true evil emperor fashion, didn’t want his soldiers to get married in case they wanted to go home to their wives and families, rather than die on the tip of a spear

Fast-forward to today, Valentine’s Day is celebrated all over the world, except apparently in Australia this year.

WHY IS THIS THOUGH?

Starting into the crystal ball that is social media or peering over my computer at work and asking colleagues, I’m pretty happy to claim Valentine’s Day as another casualty of the cost of living crisis, it can’t possibly be that we’re not all romantics at heart.

Increasing grocery bills, big company price gouging and card surcharges nibbling away at the numbers in your bank accounts like hungry mice, it’s no wonder a luxury, midweek dinner has gone on the chopping block.

Inflation is still “high” according to the RBA, and it will take more time to relieve cost of living pressures. We’re also entering an era where first home loan applications have dropped remarkably, and rents have spiked to unreasonable figures, so it’s understandable. It could be all that avocado toast coming back to haunt us.

Regardless, if you are just pinching pennies or you truly don’t celebrate the day, you can at least light a candle and whip up something at home to impress that significant other and pretend it was all just on a whim.

Originally published as Valentine’s Day 2024 largely rejected by Australians amid cost of living crisis