|
27 February 2007
Mumbai, India
IEven in the 21st century marriage holds a special place in the hearts of people. A survey conducted by The Nielsen Company (ACNielsen) has revealed some interesting facts about what people actually feel about getting married and various other topics related to marriage.
87 percent of the respondents surveyed in India felt that marriage is meant for life, this is much higher than the figures for Asia Pacific of 72 percent, and global figures of 70 percent. It is interesting to note here that globally a higher percentage of men (76%) believe that marriage is for life whereas only 64 percent of women feel so. Indonesians are the highest believers that marriage is meant for life with 97 percent of the respondents agreeing to it, followed by Philippines and Malaysia.
Only 53 percent of respondents in India consider marriage a lifetime goal, one of the lowest three percentages in Asia Pacific. For 61 percent of respondents across the globe marriage is a lifetime goal with Indonesians again topping the chart with 87 percent.
India is still a very family oriented country and majority of the people intend to get married and have children. The survey shows that 94 percent of Indians intend to have children after marriage. Only 6 percent of respondents in India do not intend to have children after marriage, this being the least in Asia Pacific. Globally 17 percent of respondents do not plan to have children after marriage. Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand are the leading countries in Asia Pacific where the tendency to not have children after marriage is the highest.
As society is changing, long, stable relationships are taking the place of marriage. Very interestingly more than half the respondents in India consider a stable, long-term relationship just as good as marriage. “Indian customs, values, and norms are deep rooted and are not very easy to shake. Modernization is taking place and especially in larger towns people are finding modern ways of life far easier. But here again it has yet to derail an old institution like marriage from society and hence we see Indians prefer to have children after marriage rather than out of wedlock,” said Sarang Panchal, Executive Director, Customized Research South East Asia for ACNielsen, a division of The Nielsen Company.
With a majority of Indians still supporting marriage, it is unlikely that they will consider marriage irrelevant and only 18 percent fall in the category that consider the concept of marriage irrelevant today. Globally more than a quarter of the respondents consider the concept of marriage irrelevant. The highest supporters of the concept of marriage are the Malaysians covering 90 percent of the respondents.
It is a common belief in India that children whose parents are married live a happier and more stable life than those whose parents have separated. According to the findings of the survey, 92 percent of Indians support this belief in India. Globally 74 percent of respondents believe that children whose parents are married live a happier and more stable life, 82 percent of respondents in Asia Pacific feel the same.
“The high percentage of juvenile crime is often related to a difficult childhood with family problems at home. Marriage brings about a commitment and stability in a relationship, which is very important while raising a child. In India single parenting is yet to become a regular feature and peer and societal pressure that a child faces while his/her parents are partners but not married is sometimes difficult to cope. This possibly reinforces the belief of respondents that for a healthy upbringing of children, parents should be married,” said Panchal.
The survey also shows that the age at which Indians are getting married is increasing and 79 percent of the respondents feel that thirties is a good time to get married. Globally 77 percent respondents feel that thirties is a good time to get married. Germany though is at the bottom of the list with only 43 percent people considering thirties a marriageable age.
People in India (73%) like their counterparts in China (89%) believe that mothers with children can work.
““The new generation is more career focused and are reluctant to assume other responsibilities before their career objectives are fulfilled. People generally attain a degree of stability in terms of career around the age of 30 and hence there has been an increasing trend where people prefer to get married at around that age. Similarly Indian women are incessantly becoming more career driven and are not willing to sacrifice their career for family as before. Hence we see a trend where Indians are more than willing to accept working mothers. The lifestyle that could be afforded with double income and the availability of better child care facilities like crèches, play schools, etc. is making it easier for a woman to get back to work post child birth. “Added Panchal
About ACNielsen
ACNielsen, a division of The Nielsen Company, is the world's leading marketing information provider. Offering services in more than 100 countries, the unit provides measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and behaviour. Clients rely on ACNielsen's market research, proprietary products, analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the profitability of their marketing and sales campaigns. To learn more, visit www.acnielsen.co.in.
About The Nielsen Company
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek), trade shows and the newspaper sector (Scarborough Research). The privately held company has more than 42,000 employees and is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.
# # #
Back to Top
|
