Young Belgians long for wedding bells

26 May 2004

BRUSSELS – The vast majority of young Belgians say they intend to get married at some stage in their lives and nearly two out of three of them want a church wedding, a new study has revealed.

The survey of 1,500 adolescents aged between 15 and 18 found that 80 percent of those questioned intended to tie the knot one day.

Of those 58 percent said they wanted to get married in church.

However, the study, carried out by researchers form the Catholic University of Leuven, also found that young Belgians do have a touch of modernity about them.

Sixty percent of those questioned said they would like to live together with their future spouse before tying the knot.

Surprisingly perhaps, only 16 percent of respondents said love would be the main reason for marrying.

For 15 percent, faithfulness was the top priority, 14.5 percent cited communication with their partner and 14 percent mutual respect.

Nearly 40 percent said their parents would have some influence over their future choice of husband or wife.

Subject: Belgian news