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NEWS RELEASE:
February 7, 2005
Contact: Tom Henry, Olympia Communications Group, 360-413-9300 Families Northwest releases "The State of Our Unions" marriage survey report
(Bellevue, WA) - Families Northwest today released results from a survey of Washington state adults measuring people's attitudes towards marriage, child rearing and related subjects. The results were measured against a very similar survey Families Northwest conducted in 1997 to determine how opinions have evolved since then. (see key findings below)
"For all intents and purposes, the people of Washington take marriage very seriously and consider it to be a life-long commitment," said Jeff Kemp, President of Families Northwest. "Most people who are married today are very confident about and happy in their relationships, and people who are single are optimistic and hopeful that they will have a life-long, happy family life when they do get married," he said.
The results, taken from a survey conducted in October, 2004, are being released in conjunction with "Northwest Marriage Week" (Feb. 6-14), an annual celebration of marriage and strengthening of family life. Last year, 135 churches and community organizations from 45 different cities in Washington, Oregon and Idaho participated in Northwest Marriage Week programs.
This year, Portland, OR and Puyallup, WA will be hosting seminars to launch a "10 Great Dates" initiative, an innovative marriage enrichment program from relationship experts David and Claudia Arp. A "marriage covenant" retreat is to be held in Redmond, WA, and churches in the lower Yakima Valley will sign a marriage and family agreement on February 9, committing those churches to working together to strengthen marriage and families.
Kemp said it is encouraging that people feel so strongly about the importance of marriage, yet questions are raised by the finding that they also have become more accepting of divorce.
"More than 90 percent of all the people we surveyed, whether they are married or not right now, expect their marriages to last for a lifetime," Kemp said. "It's good to see that nearly 90% of those who are married would marry the same person all over again."
Opinions on cohabitation largely were unchanged in 2004 from those expressed in 1997 despite a growing mountain of evidence from the social sciences that people who live together without getting married experience more domestic violence and abuse, and are generally less satisfied with their relationships. While domestic violence remains a problem in both kinds of relationships, people living together experience violence more than three times as often as married couples.
Perhaps not surprisingly, there are some sharp differences in attitudes toward marriage, divorce and pre-marital sex in different parts of the state. King County, which includes Seattle, is much more liberal in its outlook than the rest of the state.
For example, when asked to agree or disagree with the statement, "all things being equal, it is better for children to be raised in a household that has a married mother and father," only 66 percent of King County residents agreed, a 19 point drop from 1997. In the rest of the state, 80% of respondents agreed.
Perhaps correspondingly, there is a 19 percentage point increase in the number of King County residents who view divorce as, "a springboard to a better life." Only 25% thought that way in 1997, but in the most recent survey, 44% think that way. In the rest of Washington, only 30% of respondents see divorce as a springboard to a better life.
"We see some shifting of attitudes statewide, but the bulk of that shift is taking place in King County," Kemp said. "What it all means is that while marriage and commitment to family are still very important values to the people of Washington, we have to renew our efforts to celebrate and strengthen marriage and constantly commit ourselves to being good husbands and wives, as well as loving, caring and nurturing parents.
"Relationships and families dominate our lives and children need the stability of family and the loving presence of their moms and dads. This means marriage is worthy of far more attention, focus and intentional effort than it has received," Kemp said.
Key Findings in the "State of Our Unions":
- Washingtonians remain overwhelmingly supportive of marriage as an institution and disagree with the notion that marriage is "old fashioned" or outmoded.
- 88% of those surveyed in 2004 said marriage is not old-fashioned, while 11% said it is. Those results are virtually identical to respondents in the Family Northwest survey conducted in 1997.
- 87% said if they had to do it over again, they would marry the same person. Only 10% said they would not. In the 1997 survey, the figures were 83% yes and 16% no.
- 92% of those surveyed expect to be married for life while just 8% do not expect to be married for life. That represents very little change from 1997 when the answers were 94% yes and just 3% no.
- Washingtonians overwhelming cited several factors as being most important to having a strong marriage - making a lifelong commitment to their spouses, fidelity, and sexual satisfaction showed the most dramatic upsides.
- On a scale of 1-10 with 1 meaning "not important at all" and 10 meaning it is extremely important, respondents mean rating for making a lifelong commitment was 9.8, up from 9.3 in the 1997 survey.
- On a scale of 1-10, the mean rating for fidelity was 10.0, up from 9.0 in 1997.
- On a scale of 1-10, the mean rating for sexual satisfaction was 8.0, up from 7.5 in 1997.
- Other very important factors to respondents, but little changed from 1997, are good communication (9.4), ability to resolve conflict (9.0) and close friendship (9.0).
- But while Washington adults have strong commitments and beliefs about the importance of marriage, attitudes have become more accepting of divorce, pre-marital sex and single parenthood.
- In 1997, 69% of Washington adults thought people just traded one set of problems for another when they got divorced. 21% thought divorce was a springboard to a better life. In 2004, 56% thought divorce was trading one set of problems for another, but 34% thought it was springboard to a better life
- In 2004, 53% of respondents said a couple with children but is unhappy with its marriage should get a divorce, a statistically significant jump from 47% in 1997.
- In 1997, respondents said people should wait to get married before having sex by a 63-28% margin. In 2004, only 52% thought waiting was a good idea while 40% thought having sex is acceptable.
- In 1997, 86% of respondents agreed with the statement, "all things being equal, it is better for children to be raised in a household that has a married mother and father." By 2004, support for that statement slumped 10 points to 76% while disagreement with the statement doubled for 12% to 24%.
- Loosening of attitudes was particularly pronounced among women and in King County.
- In 1997, by an 85-13% margin, respondents thought it was best for children to be raised in a home with the child's mother and father. Support for that position among women deteriorated to a 68-31% margin in 2004. Support of that position by residents of King County stood at 85-11% in 1997, but dropped to 66-33% in 2004.
- While both males and females were more tolerant of pre-marital sex in the 2004 survey than they were in 1997, the number of women who think it is alright to have sex before marriage increased 16 percentage points while the percentage of men increased just 10%. In 1997, 71% of women thought it was best to wait, but only 55% thought so in 2004.
- More than half (52%) of King County respondents think pre-marital sex is alright, more than double the total of the results from southwest and eastern Washington (25%)
- Women and respondents from King County also showed a greater willingness to divorce if they are in an unhappy marriage, even if they have children. Support for the divorce option increased among women from 48% to 58% in 2004 while fewer than half the men surveyed agreed. In King County, support for the divorce option skyrocketed from 47% to 64%. Support in the rest of the state was 53%.
- Women who see divorce as a springboard to a better life in 2004 nearly doubled the 1997 figure (18% to 35%) while all respondents from King County who feel that way moved up 19 points from 25% to 44%, substantially higher than the rest of the state (30%)
- As a whole, moderation of men's views on various subjects was far less pronounced than moderation in women's views, and men's attitudes on the things important to them in a marriage show some interesting trends.
- Males, for example, show a marked increase in their belief that churches can do the most to promote healthy marriages. In 1997, only 25% of men thought churches were important, but by 2004 the figure had increased to 40%.
- 94% of males think making a lifelong commitment to their spouse is important to having a strong marriage - up from 87% in 1997.
- Fidelity also took a statistically significant jump among males as a condition for strong marriages, rising from 79% in 1997 to 85% in 2004.
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