More men in the UK are holding out ‘to meet the right person’ before getting married than women, a new survey published today revealed.
Thirty-five per cent of men polled said they hadn’t got married because they hadn’t met the right person compared to only 29 per cent of women.
Overall, one in three people (31 per cent) who want to marry but have not yet tied the knot are still on the hunt for their Mr or Mrs Right.
The survey also revealed almost one in ten women (eight per cent) are waiting for their partner to pop the question, while none of the men polled said they are waiting to be asked.
The poll of over 2,000 people, commissioned by leading London law firm Seddons for Marriage Week and carried out by Populus, shows that people living in the capital are pickier than the national average, with two in five (40 per cent) still waiting to meet the right person.
Marriage Week this year promoted the advantages of planning ahead, including the benefits of getting married before having children in terms of improving the chances of long-term family stability.
The survey revealed planning was low even among married couples with 95 per cent never even having had a conversation about getting a pre-nuptial agreement.
Sir Paul Coleridge, chairman of Marriage Foundation, the organisation which organised Marriage Week UK this year, commented:
“We should not be alarmed when we see couples of today being choosier than the generation before them. Previous Marriage Foundation research has shown women now typically marry in their early thirties, men in their mid-thirties.
“The good news is that when couples do finally get round to making a solid commitment it is far more likely to last than twenty years ago.
“The rate of divorce in the early years has been falling steadily for the last nine years and although men are taking longer to commit when they do it is much more likely to be a carefully considered permanent decision.
“The essential ingredient for marriage is deciding to make a mutual life-long commitment and not sliding or drifting into cohabitation with little or no planning.
“Similarly, planning your first baby, as Marriage Foundation research showed last week, also increases your chances of staying together forever.
“Seddons, a leading London law firm, are to be congratulated for enabling this interesting new polling to happen. Good data as opposed to myth and speculation based on anecdote, enables us all to understand better what is really happening in this vital area of our lives.
“Marriage Week is about finding time to have those important conversations about important areas of a married couple’s life. And what better day than Valentine’s Day for having those talks and making decisions that will most affect your future happiness and that of your children.”