Evangelicals Half As Likely To Get Divorced

Despite a shortage of unmarried men in the church leading to single women having to look outside of Christian community to find a partner, as a whole evangelicals are half as likely as the general population to get divorced - according to new research.

The Evangelical Alliance surveyed over 1,200 people about family matters, and found a mixed picture of life as a family unit in the 21st century.

According to the research, evangelicals are half as likely to get divorced as the general population, with a divorce rate among evangelicals of 25%, compared with 50% of the public at large.

The couples and families questioned also gave some clue as to why this might be, with the majority saying they had read books on marriage and relationships, and 37% saying they had spoken to a church leader or pastor about their marriage.

But while most evangelical Christians prefer to marry other believers, a shortage of single men in the church is leading to young women finding partners outside of the church. On occasions this leads to conflict of belief and lifestyles.

The findings also show how families demonstrate their spirituality together, with only a small proportion of respondents claiming to read the bible together daily, but the vast majority attending church together.

The questioners also tracked the change in attitudes towards family life, noting that 45% of people surveyed now said they felt that a woman’s main role in a family is to care for and nurture the children, with charismatics most likely to hold that view.

The results also show that young people are more likely to hold progressive views on the role of husbands and wives.