New Focus on the Family Report: Marriage Health in America
Focus on the Family’s new report, Marriage Health in America has found new insights, including that “74% of marital relationships in the U.S. may be considered as healthy.”
Focus on the Family President Jim Daly called this “welcome news,” adding, “even more significant, the percentage of healthy marriages increases to an amazing 82% when we narrowed down our findings to those who are deeply committed to the Christian faith. Without question, living by one’s Christian convictions makes a difference [emphasis in original].”
As Daly explained in a recent press release, “What our research found is that married couples who act on their faith together – those believers our researchers call ‘convictional Christians’ – have healthier, more flourishing marriages.”
On the flip side, Marriage Health in America has found, “21% of marriages may be considered in a state of crisis — where the couple is pursuing divorce or considering divorce or just have no hope for the marriage. Convictional Christians were found to experience the lowest rate of a crisis state [emphasis in original].”
Twenty-five percent of non-Christians surveyed said their marriages were in crisis, while only 13% of Convictional Christians said the same.
“One of the most encouraging things to come out of the study for us,” Daly added, “is that the results affirm the ingredients that make up a good marriage we’ve been helping our constituents prioritize and practice for nearly 50 years.”
Daly is referring to the many resources Focus on the Family offers to help married couples thrive, including a Marriage Assessment survey, Resist the Drift – a conference for strengthening marriages, the Thriving Marriage Weekly Newsletter, YouTube videos – “Crazy Little Thing Called Marriage,” and numerous books, articles, videos and broadcasts.
Additionally, Focus offers free Counseling Consultations, and Focus’ Hope Restored offers three to five-day marriage counseling intensives for marriages in crisis.
Ipsos Public Affairs administered the survey of 3,800 Americans on behalf of Focus on the Family, including respondents from 1,000 married households and 1,000 households with at least one head of household identifying as a Christian.
Researchers asked participants about 32 key marriage areas, such as “feeling safe with each other,” “trust,” “lifelong commitment to this marriage,” “taking responsibility for mistakes” and “spending enjoyable time together.
Christians with orthodox beliefs about salvation and who also practice their faith outperform other groups in each of these important areas.
Survey participants listed the five most common marriage problems that couples generally face:
- Sexual issues
- Stress
- Busy schedules
- Health and medical issues
- Financial struggles
Among unhealthy marriages, the top five areas of difficulty are:
- Sexual issues
- Stress
- Lack of emotional intimacy
- Loneliness/loveless marriage
- Communication problems
“Regardless of being healthy or unhealthy,” the study found, “sexual issues or lack of sexual intimacy is the biggest challenge facing couples.”
Marriage Health in America, balanced respondents using different demographics, such as gender, age, race, region, metropolitan status and religion. Religion was then broken down into four groups: Christian, Other Religion, Just Spiritual and Not Religious.
The Christian group was further divided into three sub-groups, based on participants responses to questions about beliefs and practices. “Born Again Christians” include those who:
- Said they had made a previous commitment to Jesus Christ which was important in their lives today.
- Knew that when they died, they would go to Heaven because they had confessed sins and accepted/received Jesus Christ as their Savior.
“Convictional Christians” were respondents who answered Yes to those questions, but also:
- Attended religious services at least monthly.
- Read or listened to the Bible or prayed on their own – outside of church – at least weekly.
- Agree with the statement: “If my thoughts or actions do not line up with what the Bible teaches, the Bible is right and I am wrong.”
“Nominal Christians” were those who labeled themselves Christian but did not follow any of the above beliefs or practices.
Pastors, ministry leaders and counselors will be helped by the information about the components of a healthy marriage – as well as the major problems couples face.
In his summary of Marriage Health in America, Daly explained the usefulness of the research.
Certainly there is more research to be done in this area in order to offer the best help for married couples, so future studies are planned.
“The Marriage Health in America study will continue. For the next wave in this study, we look forward to fine-tuning our research efforts to build upon what we’ve learned and go deeper in areas that warrant further investigation.”
A similar study focused on parenting in America is planned for 2026.
Learn more about Marriage Health in America.
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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 Kevin O’Leary: Forget About Divorce and Fall in Love All Over Again
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