KEY POINTS:
The concept of marriage is alive and well in the 21st century, with a majority of unmarried New Zealand adults saying marriage is one of their lifetime goals, a new survey reveals.
The survey released today by The Nielsen Company polled people's attitudes to love, romance and marriage,
and uncovered some surprising views, ACNielsen New Zealand managing director Stephen Mitchell said.
"In recent decades we've seen more couples choosing to live together rather than get married, raising the question of whether the age-old tradition of 'to have and to hold till death do us part' is a dying tradition," Mr Mitchell said.
"These results certainly tell a different story, indicating that the concept of marriage is still very much alive and well."
However, while most New Zealanders aspired to marry, there was still a strong backing for co-habitation -- 64 per cent of respondents considered a stable, long term relationship just as good as marriage.
The survey showed that for 58 per cent of unmarried New Zealand adults marriage is one of their lifetime goals.
The vast majority of unmarried Kiwis also planned to have children after marriage, with just 15 per cent not intending to.
The survey polled more than 25,000 consumers online in 46 countries, including 500 in New Zealand.
New Zealanders were the third most likely in the Asia Pacific region to support working mothers, with 71 per cent disagreeing that mothers with children shouldn't work.
"Kiwis' support of working mums reflects the longer term trend for mothers to return to part-time or full-time work following the birth of their kids," Mr Mitchell said.
Globally the survey results indicated that the concept of marriage was largely dominated by a country's cultural and religious beliefs, with opposing views from the developed West and emerging East.
Muslim and Catholic strongholds in Asia topped global rankings in believing that marriage was for life, led by Indonesia (97 per cent), Turkey (92 per cent) and The Philippines and Malaysia (both 89 per cent).
European nations were most likely to disagree that marriage was a life long commitment. An average of 39 per cent of Europeans did not believe marriage was for life, with Spanish (66 per cent), Portuguese (65 per cent), Greek (56 per cent) and Italian (52 per cent) respondents leading the way.
Nearly three quarters of New Zealanders (72 per cent) viewed marriage as a commitment for life.
- NZPA