Marriage | Gallup Historical Trends

Marriage

Trend on Same-Sex Marriages Being Recognized by the Law as Valid

Trend: Next, I'm going to read you a list of issues. Regardless of whether or not you think it should be legal, for each one, please tell me whether you personally believe that in general it is morally acceptable or morally wrong. How about sex between an unmarried man and woman?

Referendum on Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage in All 50 States

Trend: Do you approve of marriage between blacks and whites?

Trend: When a man and woman plan to spend the rest of their lives together as a couple, how important is it to you that they legally marry -- very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not important at all?

Trend: When an unmarried man and woman have a child together, how important is it to you that they legally marry -- very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not important at all?

Trend: Have you ever been married, or not?

Would you like to get married someday, or not?

There are many possible reasons why people who want to get married one day are not currently married. What would you say are some of the reasons you are not married at the present time? [OPEN-ENDED]

Would you like to get married again someday, or not?

Trend: How many different times have you ever been married?

Trend: How many different times have you ever been divorced?

Trend: Now, thinking back to when you were born, were your parents married, or were they not married at that time?

Trend: When you were a child, were you raised by both of your parents in the same household, by both parents about equally but in different households, raised mainly by your mother, raised mainly by your father, or were you raised by someone else?

Just your best guess, do you think that allowing two people of the same sex to legally marry will change our society for -- [ROTATED: the better, will it have no effect, or will it change our society for the worse]?

	Better	No effect	Worse	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2009 May 7-10	13	36	48	2
2003 Sep 19-21	10	40	48	2

Suppose an unmarried couple lives together with children in the household. Do you think that has a -- [ROTATED: positive effect on the children, does it not make a difference, (or does it have a) negative effect on the children]?

	Positive effect	No difference	Negative effect	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2008 Jul 25-27	12	47	38	3

In general, do you think that an unmarried couple that has lived together for one year is just as committed in their relationship as a couple that has been married for one year, or not?

BASED ON A HALF SAMPLE

	Yes, just as committed	No, not as committed	No opinion
	%	%	%
2008 Jul 25-27	42	53	5

In general, do you think that an unmarried couple that has lived together for five years is just as committed in their relationship as a couple that has been married for five years, or not?

BASED ON A HALF SAMPLE

	Yes, just as committed	No, not as committed	No opinion
	%	%	%
2008 Jul 25-27	57	40	3

Do you think couples that live together before marriage are more likely or less likely to get divorced than couples that do not live together before marriage?

	More likely	Less likely	No difference (vol.)	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2008 Jul 25-27	31	49	13	7
(vol.) = Volunteered response

Would you favor or oppose a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as being between a man and a woman, thus barring marriages between gay or lesbian couples?

	Oppose	Favor	No opinion
	%	%	%
2008 May 8-11 ^	49	48	3
2006 May 8-11	50	47	3
2005 Apr 29-May 1	53	44	3
2005 Mar 18-20	57	37	6
2004 Jul 19-21 ^	48	46	6
2004 May 2-4	51	45	4
2004 Mar 5-7	50	45	5
2004 Feb 9-12	53	44	3
2004 Feb 6-8 ^	47	47	6
2003 Jul 18-20	50	45	5
^ Asked of a half sample

Generally speaking, would you say you approve or disapprove of men and women living together without being married if they want to, or is that something you haven't formed an opinion on?

	Approve	Disapprove	No opinion
2007 Sep 7-8	55%	27	18

Have you ever been married, or not?

	Yes	No	No opinion
Total	%	%	%
2006 Jun 8-25	80	20	*

Non-Hispanic whites
2006 Jun 8-25	82	18	*

Blacks
2006 Jun 8-25	65	35	*

Hispanics
2006 Jun 8-25	72	28	*
* Less than 0.5%

Do you think you will get married someday, or do you think you will remain single?

BASED ON THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN MARRIED

	Will get married	Will remain single	No opinion
Total	%	%	%
2006 Jun 8-25	73	23	4

Do you think you will get married again someday, or do you think you will remain single?

BASED ON THOSE WHO WERE PREVIOUSLY MARRIED BUT ARE NOT CURRENTLY MARRIED

	Will get married again	Will remain single	No opinion
Total	%	%	%
2006 Jun 8-25	29	68	3

Using an A, B, C, D and F grading scale like they do in school, what grade would you give your marriage today?

BASED ON ADULTS WHO ARE CURRENT MARRIED

	A	B	C	D	F	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%	%
2006 May 8-11	65	27	6	1	--	*
2002 Jul 22-24	68	23	6	1	1	1
1996 Sep 3-5	59	29	10	1	*	1
* Less than 0.5%

What do you think is the ideal age for a WOMAN to get married?

BASED ON A HALF SAMPLE

	2006 May 5-7
	%
Age 21 or under	20
Age 22-25	42
Age 26-29	16
Age 30 or older	12

No opinion	10

Mean	24.9
Median	25

What do you think is the ideal age for a MAN to get married?

BASED ON A HALF SAMPLE

	2006 May 5-7
	%
Age 21 or under	11
Age 22-25	33
Age 26-29	20
Age 30 or older	30

No opinion	7

Mean	27.4
Median	26

How often do you and your (spouse/partner) disagree about money matters -- frequently, occasionally, or rarely]?

BASED ON ADULTS WHO ARE MARRIED OR LIVING TOGETHER WITH PARTNER

	Frequently	Occasion- ally	Rarely	Never (vol.)	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2006 Mar 10-12	9	30	57	4	*
* Less than 0.5%
(vol.) = Volunteered response

Before you got married, how much did you and your spouse talk about combining your finances after you were married -- a lot, a little, or not at all?

BASED ON MARRIED ADULTS

	A lot	A little	Not at all	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2006 Mar 10-12	33	31	35	1

During your lifetime, have you ever had a divorce?

	Yes, have	No, have not	No opinion
	%	%	%
2006 Mar 10-12	30	70	*
1985 Mar 18-31 ^	23	77	--
* Less than 0.5%
^ Gallup survey for Religious Education Association of the U.S. and Canada and other organizations.

Would you say disagreements over money were a major factor, a minor factor, or not a factor at all in the decision to get a divorce?

BASED ON ADULTS WHO HAVE EVER BEEN DIVORCED

	Major factor	Minor factor	Not a factor at all	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2006 Mar 10-12	18	17	62	3

Which of the following arrangements between gay or lesbian couples do you think should be recognized as legally valid -- same-sex marriages, civil unions, but not same-sex marriages, or neither same-sex marriages nor civil unions?

	Same-sex marriages	Civil unions	Neither	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2006 Mar 10-12^	20	27	45	8
2004 Nov 19-21	21	32	43	4
^ Asked of a half sample

Did you and your [husband/wife] live together before you got married or not?

BASED ON ADULTS WHO ARE CURRENTLY MARRIED

	Yes	No	No opinion
	%	%	%
2002 Jul 22-24	37	63	*
1996 Sep 3-5	31	69	*
1988 Dec 27-29	19	81	0
* Less than 0.5%

Do you think couples that live together before marriage are more likely or less likely to get divorced than couples that do not live together before marriage?

	More likely	Less likely	No difference (vol.)	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2002 Jul 22-24	40	37	14	9
(vol.) = Volunteered response

Who made the marriage proposal in your family -- you or your [husband/wife]?

BASED ON THOSE WHO ARE MARRIED

	Husband	Wife	Both (vol.)	Other (vol.)	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
1997	82	9	5	2	2
1952	76	12	4	8	--
(vol.) = Volunteered response

Knowing what you do now, if you had to do it over, is there a chance you might not marry the same person, or do you think you probably would, or are you certain you would?

BASED ON THOSE WHO ARE MARRIED

	Might not	Probably would	Certainly would	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
1997	9	28	62	1
1948	10	28	49	13