Ten Years of Surveys Reveal Barriers to Long-lasting Relationships

“Different goals and expectations”, “different perspectives or values”, and “lack of time to spend together” have also increasingly featured as important factors in recent Surveys, highlighting that finding and sustaining partnerships has become more complex these days.

A surprising finding in the 2008 Survey is that that 26% of single men, compared with only 13% of single women, say they want a long-term partner.

“This finding suggests that the popular concept of a “Man Drought” may be simplistic. It might not fit the image of the independent Aussie bloke, but our research shows that relationships do matter to men”, said Anne Hollonds, Vice-president of Relationships Australia. “These findings counter traditional views of gender stereotypes about relationships, which may be based more on mythology than fact.”

“Perhaps we do have a problem of mismatched expectations, however, with  23 percent of men saying they have trouble finding anyone on the same wavelength, compared to just 16 percent of women. Women were more likely to mention a “lack of appropriate places to meet people” as a barrier to finding a partner.”

“Significantly, the Survey also shows that 88 percent of Australians nominate “friendship” as the most important relationship in their life, suggesting a trend away from spouse or family members as the main focus of our social lives”, observed Anne Hollonds. “In addition, 40% said they had less community involvement than they would like, with “work pressures” named as the main reason.”

The 2008 Relationships Australia/CUA Relationships Indicators Survey was conducted by Woolcott Research on behalf of Relationships Australia. It is conducted every two to four years as part of RA’s ongoing commitment to understanding the nature of today’s relationships and providing effective relationship intervention to Australians. The survey involved telephone interviews with 1,200 persons aged 18 years or older and was conducted in August 2008 in all Australian States and Territories.

The Survey was officially launched today to mark Relationships Australia’s 60th Anniversary as Australia’s largest, community-based, not-for-profit provider of relationship and family support services from over 120 locations across the country.

Relationships Australia’s national community partner, Credit Union Australia (CUA) has been a part of the financial lives of a great number of Australians for over 60 years aiming “to change the life of a member for the better”. 

Full media release on Relationships Indicators Survey:
Ten Years of Relationship Surveys Reveal Barriers to Long-Lasting Love  (pdf)