Marriage falls out of favour according to biggest opinion survey in UK
The traditional marriage set-up is no longer viewed as the best type of relationship among young adults, according to the biggest survey of public opinion in the UK.
Unlike their parents’ generation, the majority of young adults do not place as much importance on marrying their long-term partner, nor do they believe a woman’s role is at home.
The British Social Attitudes report showed that less than four in ten adults between 18 and 34 think marriage is the best relationship to have, in contrast to the eight in 10 pensioners who believe it is.
The report revealed significant shifts in the traditional female role with young adults being twice as likely as over-65s to think that mothers should return to full-time work when their children are school age.
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The survey of 4,000 Britons comes days after a Government report indicating that married couples will be a minority group by next year, as more and more couples choose to live together but not marry.
The survey’s findings backed this prediction with only 38% of young adults believing marriage is the best choice of relationship to follow – compared with 84% of over-65s – and just 22% of young people said they believed married couples make better parents than couples living out of wedlock.
