|
|
||
Marriage is no Longer Relevant in Today's Society24.10.06 Press Release by
Vitabiotics Wellwoman
New research highlights that women in the UK think that marriage is no longer necessary in today's society (results based on a survey of 2,134 women surveyed). Almost three quarters of women think that couples today enter into marriage too quickly without thinking it through and 62 percent of childless women are concerned about their declining fertility. The study unveils women's concerns about marriage, fertility, divorce, children, working, money, healthy eating and celebrities. Highlights of the study show that:
As a result of the findings (full release appears below), Vitabiotics Wellwoman will be launching a guide to, 'Being a superwoman and keeping your sanity.' The guide will cover the areas of health, marriage, relationships and how to remain a superwoman in all situations. Marriage is no Longer Relevant in Today's
Society
Research launched[1] to assess women's views on their changing role in society has uncovered that almost 1 in 3 women (31 percent) think that marriage is no longer necessary or relevant in today's society and almost three quarters of women (71 percent) think that couples today enter into marriage too quickly without thinking it through first. The research, which was carried out by Vitabiotics Wellwoman, the unique vitamin supplement specially designed for women, provides an insight into women's attitudes in life matters such as fertility, working, marriage and children. Declining fertility levels... Research has shown that a woman's fertility will start to decline from her mid-twenties. In a society where more and more women are working and striving to achieve accomplishments in the work place like their male counterparts, childbirth is being put off until later in life. 70 percent of women said that they think women are under pressure to earn as much money as men - is this pressure putting them off from having children until much later in life? 62 percent of childless women surveyed are concerned that their fertility starts declining from their mid-twenties. Almost half (48 percent) said that it concerns them but they try not to think about it and 15 percent said that it concerns them greatly and makes them feel stressed. Dr Linda Papadopoulos, a world-renowned psychologist commented, "The results of the Wellwoman vitamin survey provide some fascinating insights into how woman's values have changed over the years. An interesting change is on women's views on marriage, with a significant proportion stating that they no longer feel that it is relevant. This shift in attitude may be a testament to the fact that women feel liberated enough, sexually and socially to not have to walk down the aisle, or it could be that today's cynical attitude to almost everything has minimised the marriage to an outdated, over romanticised practice. Whatever the case the worry is that since for most women in our society marriage, conception and children are connected (consciously or not) there is a danger that by the time a woman decides that marriage is not for her she may have left it too late to have the child she so desperately wants." "The survey shows that women are incredibly worried about their fertility; it is therefore a major concern that more and more women are leaving getting pregnant until later in life when their chances of conception are declining rapidly. It can be presumed that the need to prove themselves in the work place is making women put off childbirth until later in life. Something needs to change or else we will have a fertility crisis on our hands." Women should be the providers? Almost half of women (46 percent) feel that they should support their families financially as much as their partner does and over a quarter of women (28 percent) will work on average more than 8 hours a day to try and do so. More than 1 in 10 (12 percent) regularly work more than 10 hours each day. Dr Linda Papadopoulos commented, "In a world where success is constantly being equated with monetary gain it is no surprise that women feel pressured to prove themselves in the work place - unlike men however they have the added pressure of also having to prove their worth as mothers and partners. There is therefore always going to be a sense of letting someone down whether its family or work and this psychological guilt can be just as draining as the physical stress of trying to be a superwoman." Home environment... When it comes to creating the perfect home environment, women want to be superwomen. Surprisingly well over half of women (59 percent) only want their husbands/partners to help out when they don't have enough time to do everything themselves. Over half of women (52 percent) also said that their husbands/partners don't do any or only provide minimal domestic assistance when prompted or asked. The healthy eating message is clearly getting through to parents - 39 percent of mothers said that they always cook themselves and don't give their children any ready made meals. Just over a quarter of women (26 percent) give their children ready-made meals once a week and almost a quarter (23 percent) give their children ready-made meals twice a week. If money weren't an issue almost 1 in 3 women (32 percent) would want to have 4 children or more - couples in the UK have an average of 1.8 children. Pressure to be thin... It appears that living in a celebrity-obsessed society where fad diets are prevalent has impacted on women and their stance on getting back into shape after a child is born. Almost a quarter (24 percent) think that women should be back to their pre-pregnancy shape within 3 months after the birth of their child. This is despite the fact that experts say it takes 9 months to get back into shape. 83 percent of women also think that women feel pressurised to get back into good physical shape soon after giving birth - could this be partly to blame on celebrities who seem to get back to their pre-pregnancy shape within days of giving birth? Work and children... Interestingly more than 1 in 5 women (21 percent) who have had children think that women who work whilst raising a family make worse mothers. Celebrity mothers... According to the survey Davina McCall (38 percent), Jules Oliver (31 percent) and Gwyneth Paltrow (13 percent) are the best role models for new mothers. Bottom of the list was Victoria Beckham (5 percent), Britney Spears (2 per cent) and Kate Moss (0.7 percent). Working women... Women's top worries in terms of their career are: salary level (46 percent), their pension (32 percent) spending too much time in the office and not enough time with their family and friends (29 percent). More than 1 in 10 women even said that if they were about to start a family and money weren't an object, they would be unlikely to quit work to look after their children full time. Interesting insights... The Wellwoman vitamin survey highlighted interesting insights into the perceptions of younger and more mature women. Interestingly older women are less inclined to think that marriage should mean one partner for life. They think that women who work whilst raising a family make worse mothers and that women shouldn't need to support their families financially as much as their partner does. Dr Linda Papadopoulos commented, "The research found that older women are in fact more cynical when it comes to their views on marriage. Older women are arriving at the conclusion that society's persistence that happiness must only come with the ideal relationship/lifestyle is not necessarily true and therefore they are rejecting the traditional notions of marriage." Percentage of women who think that marriage should mean one partner for life: Age Percentage 18-24 86% 25-34 85% 35-44 73% 45-54 66% 55+ 64% Percentage of women who think that it is too easy to get a divorce: Age Percentage 18-24 37% 25-34 38% 35-44 40% 45-54 41% 55+ 48% Percentage who think those women who work whilst raising a family make worse mothers: Age Percentage 18-24 12% 25-34 14% 35-44 16% 45-54 23% 55+ 25% Percentage who thinks women should support their families financially as much as their partner does: Age Percentage 18-24 60% 25-34 54% 35-44 45% 45-54 46% 55+ 39% Percentage who thinks that marriage is no longer necessary or relevant in today's society: Age Percentage 18-24 37.8% 25-34 35.8% 35-44 36.2% 45-54 31.7% 55+ 27% As a result of the findings Vitabiotics Wellwoman will be launching a guide to, 'Being a superwoman and keeping your sanity.' The guide will cover the areas of health, marriage, relationships and how to remain a superwoman in all situations. The guides will be available from November. Notes
Dr. Linda Papadopoulos is one of the most well-known and respected psychologists today. Initially known by the public for her regular appearances and insightful commentary on the UK version of the television phenomenon Big Brother, Dr. Linda has also provided professional psychological commentary for numerous British television and radio programs such as The Big Breakfast, Richard & Judy, The Wright Stuff, GMTV (Good Morning Television), This Morning and the London Broadcasting Company's (LBC) 97.3 FM. Her opinions are also regularly featured on Sky, Channel 5, ITN and BBC news programs. More recently, Dr. Linda's appearance as expert psychologist on VH-1's Celebrity Fit Club has gained her acclaim with both critics and the American viewing public alike. Distributed by PR Newswire
on behalf of Vitabiotics Wellwoman
See also Marriage Some sex advice from the UK Government's Health web site Solo Living: Bad |
||
| meditations |
top |
|