Infographics:Search for love has changed

It was easier in the olden days. Future spouses could be found living around the corner. Or at least in your part of town. In 1932 James Brossard, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, looked through 5,000 consecutive marriage licenses issued to people living in the city of Philadelphia.

He found that while one in eight people shared the same address as their spouses when they got married—presumably because they were cohabiting—nearly 40 percent lived no more than 20 blocks from their future husband or wife.

In England and Wales in the late 1960s, 76 percent of brides were under 25. In 2012, the figure was 14 percent. Over the past 35 years the average (mean) age for marriage across the UK has risen from mid-20s to mid-30s. More in the graphics.

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