Watch this animation that shows how couples move through relationship stages

It’s common for couples to question whether their relationship timeline is “on track.” Flowing Data’s new animation will be helpful for answering that question. It shows how quickly Americans today pass through various relationship stages — like living together and getting married — compared to the 1970s.

The data comes from 3,510 respondents of the 2017 How Couples Meet and Stay Together Survey that was administered by Stanford University. In general, contemporary couples are moving on a much slower timeline than a few decades ago. In the 1970s, 6 percent of couples were already married five months after meeting, versus only 1 percent now for the same period of time.

Image: Flowing Data

After 13 years, nearly all of the 1970s couples were married, but that wasn’t the case in 2017.

Image: Flowing Data

There’s really something to be said for watching those dots fly by. Check it out, and maybe the data will come in handy next time worries arise about being “behind” in your relationship.