UK Marriage

The Changing Face Of UK Relationships Marriage And Children

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) may indicate that marriage levels have dropped to their lowest in the United Kingdom since 1895.

United Kingdom (ePressReleases.org) July 28, 2010 - However the results of a study by relationship experts eHarmony reveal that belief in marriage remains a key feature in today's relationships and social interactions. The studypolled 3000 British men and women and found that "traditional attitudes" were particularly prevalent amongst the male respondents in terms of the value of marriage for bringing up children. This research indicates that Brits still considered marriage to be best for kids, even though last month's ONS figures revealed that women in the UK these days are more likely to be a "Mum" than a "Mrs".

So why is this? Nearly half of all the eHarmony male respondents considered that marriage is best for raising kids, with 42% of the female respondents agreeing. 61% furthermore considered marriage to be a natural step in confirming commitment. Yet it's due to the pressures of career and financial independence, according to eHarmony Labs Senior Director of Research Dr Gian Gonzaga, that recent marriage rate statistics don't necessarily reflect British values and beliefs. He elaborates: "People are getting married later because of the pressures of career and financial independence but that does not equate to a change in attitude or belief in the institution of marriage. Whether they were 16 or 60, single, in a relationship, married or divorced, more than one third of people we spoke to believed it's important for children to have married parents."

The survey respondents came from all sorts of age, location and relationship backgrounds:, single, married and divorced as well as those in London, Manchester and Bristol dating. General results indicated that the belief in marriage is still strong, particularly among the younger age groups. In the 16-24 category, 59% of respondents believe marriage is "a natural step in confirming your commitment", whilst less than 20% feel it is outdated or irrelevant. 36% of younger respondents consider marriage to be important for bringing up children.

eHarmony.co.uk launched in 2008. eHarmony Labs, the company's Pasadena, California-based research centre and the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford partnered to gather and analyse data identifying patterns that predict compatibility for couples throughout the UK. The goal: to offer UK singles a relationship service based on scientific models known as the Compatibility Matching SystemT. Dr Gonzaga is the senior director of research at eHarmony Labs, and has received numerous honours and awards for his work teaching, presenting and publishing extensively on topics relating to relation.

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