Cupid’s arrow hits Canterbury

Cantabrians have rushed to find love online in the lead-up to New Year.

The number registering on online dating site Find Someone in the past week has jumped 42 per cent from the same period last year.

Find Someone manager Rick Davies said Canterbury was the second most active region with 10,500 members, and there was a spike in new registrations on Thursday as people went out to look for companions to spend time with during the holiday season.

Registrations usually increased from the ChristmasNew Year period to Valentine’s Day, and then dropped off, he said. But 2012 had been special in that growth continued steadily throughout. It was no longer socially awkward to find a date online.

While it was popular to speak of a man drought, in the online dating world the numbers were higher for males, Davies said.

‘‘Nationally, it would be 54 per cent males compared to 46 per cent females. In Canterbury, that’s closer to 60 per cent blokes and 40 per cent ladies.’’

He said a typical male member on Find Someone would be 38, of New Zealand European descent, 1.79 metres (5ft 10in) tall and weigh 83 kilograms. He would have some form of tertiary qualification, and 20 per cent had children.

A typical female member would be 39, also of New Zealand European descent, 1.66m (5ft 4in) tall and weigh 64kg. She would have a university qualification, and 31 per cent had at least one child.

In Canterbury, just over 80 per cent of members identified themselves as being of New Zealand European descent, compared with 70 per cent nationally. Canterbury men were also more likely to have trade qualifications than university qualifications.

Female Canterbury members were slightly older than the national average, with the typical woman dater being 40. They were also less likely to have a university education.