Focus on the Family has released an in-depth new report on marital health in America, partnering with Ipsos Public Affairs to survey nearly 4,000 Americans including Christian believers along with those in the general population.
Happily, we found that 74% of married Americans report their marriage as “healthy.”
Thirty-six percent said their marriage was “very healthy.” Thirty-eight percent described their marriage as generally “healthy” and 13% described theirs as “somewhat healthy.” Only 4% of Americans said their marriage was either “unhealthy” or “very unhealthy,” being evenly split at 2% each. This is very encouraging news and the positive reports on marriage health were highest among Gen Z at 90% and Silent Generation members at 85%.
The top five drivers of healthy marriage were most often reported as trust, love for each other, mutual respect, sexual intimacy and listening to one another.
Convictional Christians added “shared spiritual beliefs and practices” as well as “lifelong commitment to this marriage” to the things they believe make their marriage work.
However, even though few reported their marriage was unhealthy, we found that 21% of American marriages were in crisis. Only 13% of convictional Christians – those who took Scripture as authoritative in their lives and regularly attend church – said their marriage was in crisis, while 22% of nominal Christians and 25% of non-Christians reported this.
But we also found that only 41% of marriages in crisis have sought any kind of outside help, while 16% of couples reporting no crisis did so. Only 21% of all married households sought help in the last 12 months. Only 7% sought “a moderate amount or more” of marriage help. The report explains, “More specifically, only 14% of unhealthy marriages and 17% of in-crisis marriages sought a moderate to great deal of marriage help.”
Only 26% of those seeking any kind of outside help pursued some sort of marriage counseling with a trained counselor or therapist. Only 9% sought out the help of a pastor, while 6% took advantage of some type of marriage strengthening event or the help of a Christian ministry, both evenly spit at 3%. Twenty-nine percent who sought marital help did so through friends or family members, while 32% indicated seeking help from God, prayer and the Bible.
It is unfortunate that so few couples make use of the rich array of helps available for building and sustaining a thriving marriage.
Focus on the Family offers a wealth of deeply informed Christian-based resources to help married couples thrive, including a Marriage Assessment survey, our Resist the Drift conference for strengthening marriages, the Thriving Marriage Weekly Newsletter, YouTube videos – “Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage,” and numerous books, articles, videos and broadcasts.
For deeper, more intensive marriage help, we also offer free Counseling Consultations, and Focus’ Hope Restored offers three to five-day marriage counseling intensives for marriages in crisis.
Struggling marriages, or couples who just feel they need some tune-up in their relationship, have abundant resources at their fingertips, and Focus on the Family exists to serve each one of them. No couple in crisis or feeling they just need some help and hope should ever feel alone. Focus on the Family and your local church stand ready to help such couples.
Learn more about Marriage Health in America.
Related Articles and Resources
If you or someone you know is struggling with marriage issues, Focus on the Family offers a one-time complimentary consultation with our ministry’s professionally trained counseling staff. The consultation is free due to generous donor support.
To reach Focus on the Family’s counseling service by phone, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) weekdays 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Mountain Time). Please be prepared to leave your contact information for a counselor to return a call to you as soon as possible. Alternatively, you can fill out our Counseling Consultation Request Form.
Marriage Assessment survey
Resist the Drift – a conference for strengthening marriages
Thriving Marriage Weekly Newsletter
“Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage”
Hope Restored – 3-5 day marriage counseling intensives for marriages in crisis
Don’t Believe the Modern Myth. Marriage Remains Good for Men
Harvard Evolutionary Biologist Brilliantly Explains Necessity of Monogamous Marriage
Important New Book Explains Why Marriage Still Matters
Image from Shutterstock
