Modern girls offer shifting views about marriage, children and motherhood

October 19, 2009 by Shawn Douglas
Filed under: News

Modern UK girls were surveyed about a variety of topics, and the results show liberal leanings.

Girlguiding UK will soon publish results of a meaningful study recently conducted on a modern generation of girls in the U.K. that show liberal leanings towards topics like the family, culture and religion.

The study polled over 1100 U.K. girls between the ages of 7 and 21 and provided answers that seem to fit in with the changing attitudes presented in the country.

According to the survey results, less than half of the girls surveyed thought that marriage should come before children, this despite generally positive answers about the perception of marriage today.

Additionally, one in four girls thought it was acceptable to be married more than once. Those numbers rose to one in three when only those between the age of 16 and 21 were considered.

Other findings included:

• Being in love was significantly more important to girls than getting married.
• Nearly half of girls who quit school or were unemployed expect to have a baby before 21.
• Most girls think that gay couples make good parents.
• Nearly 90 percent of girls aged 16 to 21 believe they are “grown up”.

Liz Burnley, the Chief Guide of Girlguiding UK, said that the numbers seemed to fit in with the changing views seen in the U.K. society, but there are issues to work on.

“We don’t know if these girls are experiencing these things personally but they see it around them, whether it be couples who are not married or who are divorced,” said Burnley.

“The findings from girls who were unemployed have real implications. Rather than early pregnancy being a mistake, is seems to be a pattern that they are expecting to follow. We need to work with youngsters to give them different horizons.”

Girlguiding UK, the largest youth organization for girls in the U.K., aims “to help girls and young women develop emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually so that they can make a positive contribution to their community and the wider world.” The organization recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary.