10 things that characterised Summer 2009

11.26.17am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 13th Sep 2009

Summertime, and the living was... not so easy this time round.

But how did the recession really effect the choices we made?

Google has been using thier 'Insights' service to look into the things we, in the UK, searched for this summer, and how they compare to last year's statistics.

You can do it yourself, with the search terms you think would be most telling. But according to their findings, the summer of 2009 was characterised by...

1. Searches for 'how to get pregnant' rising by 100% compared with summer last year...

2. ... but searches for 'sex tips' falling by a little more than 20%

3. Searches for 'staycation' more than doubled in the summer of 2009 compared to 2008*

4. Searches for cheap kids clothes were up more than 20%

5. Searches for 'vouchers' were up 40% percent compared to same time last year

6. Searches for cheap train tickets were up 34%

7. Ski holiday searches (a pretty reliable indicator of consumer confidence) were down 30% compared to same time last year

8. Searches for 'unemployment' rose by 30%

9. Searches for Jamie Oliver recipes were more than double those of last summer

10. Cosmetic surgery searches fell by 30% this summer compared to last

(*but the phrase also grew in popularity…)

Thanks to Danny Finkelstein and Hattie Garlick