Fast internet fuels more marriages (in Spain)
New research (The impact of Next-Generation Broadband: Marriage rates and Assortative mating) shows that next-generation broadband boosts marriage rates, especially among same-sex couples, according to a study from Universidad de Zaragoza economists Miriam Marcén and Marina Morales.
Why it matters: As governments invest in digital infrastructure, these findings suggest unexpected social benefits beyond economic growth — including potential help in addressing rural depopulation challenges in areas like Spain.
By the numbers:
A 25-percentage-point increase in Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) coverage raises the marriage rate by 0.05 marriages per 1,000 inhabitants (1% above average)
The effect on same-sex marriages is twice as large (2% increase relative to average rates) compared to opposite-sex marriages
Spain's fiber coverage grew from 35% to 86% of fixed broadband connections between 2016 and 2023
The average crude marriage rate was 3.64 per 1,000 inhabitants (3.56 for opposite-sex, 0.09 for same-sex couples)
The big picture: High-speed, symmetric internet like FTTH significantly improves online dating effectiveness by:
Enabling higher-quality video interactions with lower latency
Supporting data-intensive matching algorithms
Facilitating targeted partner searches
Potentially accelerating cultural acceptance of diverse relationship forms
Deeper dive: Assortative mating patterns
Between the lines: The internet appears to be reinforcing traditional patterns where people marry similar partners, but differently across couple types:
For opposite-sex couples: FTTH access significantly increases matching with similar education and occupation levels
For same-sex couples: Only showed stronger matching based on occupation, not education or age
Both groups showed no increase in cross-nationality marriages
Research methodology:
The study merged:
Microdata on all Spanish marriages (170,000+ annually) from 2013-2022
Municipal-level FTTH coverage data from the Spanish government
Data excluded the COVID-impacted year 2020
Controlled for municipality and time fixed effects
What they found: "From the event year onward, the effect is positive and statistically significant" for marriage rates after FTTH arrived in a municipality.
The government connection:
Spain's Next Generation Broadband Expansion Programme (PEBA-NGA) substantially boosted fiber access:
798 projects from 100+ telecom operators received subsidies
€621 million in public funding (80% from EU development funds)
Provided FTTH to 6.3 million properties (20% of existing properties)
Accounted for 50%+ of FTTH growth during the study period
By the numbers: Government support translated directly into higher marriage rates for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples, with multiple measures showing positive effects:
Areas receiving aid showed higher marriage rates
Each million euros of total aid increased marriage rates
Both loan and grant components showed positive effects
Looking beyond marriage:
When researchers examined all civil partnerships (including unmarried couples living together):
Same-sex partnerships showed strong positive association with FTTH
Opposite-sex cohabitation showed positive but statistically insignificant effects
The bottom line:
Fast internet appears to help people find lasting relationships by reducing search frictions and improving matching efficiency — suggesting that digital infrastructure investment could be a bigger part than we thought in addressing demographic challenges like depopulation in rural areas.
What's next: The researchers suggest these findings have implications for combating population decline, particularly in small rural municipalities where broadband access may help attract and retain young couples. That said, this isn’t the first time we seen a study counter to what people commonly think.
