Attitudes to single living
The 3,000 single Christians taking part in our survey shared their hopes, expectations and attitudes to their faith, relationships and marriage.
What do Christians enjoy about being single?
Single people value their independence and freedom to make their own choices when possible. The third most strongly held response was in not valuing a more peaceful home. However, single people don't have more time than those married.
What are the positives of being Christian while single?
Compared with their non-Christian friends, Christians said that they had a greater purpose and direction in life with increased well-being, greater social support and release from societal pressures.
Would Christians marry a non-Christian?
Most of the respondents of this survey said that they would not marry a non-Christian. Many gave as their rationale for this, quotes from the Bible. Others by citing their experience of dating and marriage with non-Christians with consequent divorce.
Would Christians use a Christian dating site?
Are dating sites acceptable from a Christian perspective? This was one of the inhibiting factors preventing people from taking the online route to finding a partner. But there were some success stories too.
Sex before marriage
Sex belongs only in marriage, according to 78% of respondents. Only 15% thought it OK to have sex before marriage and the majority of those only in loving and committed relationships. For some, the issue ended relationships.
Changes, trends and issues across age groups?
Single adult Christians experience major changes at church at the ages of 30, 45 and 60. The older the group, the less they think church is a good place for single people.
About the research
The ‘Singleness in the UK Church’ survey was conducted in 2012 by the online dating website Christian Connection. This section explains who took part in the research and how the results were analysed.
Data files for download
In this section you will find downloadable pdfs which provide a summary of the answers to the questions, together with 9,500 comments.