Married women admit to affairs

Press, 19 September 1985, Page 37

Married women admit to affairs

NZPA-PA London More than a third of wives (38 per cent) admitted that they had had affairs and more than half (57 per cent) — at some point — had thought about leaving their husbands, according to a survey published in London.

The survey says nowadays women are more independent — 67 per cent go to work — and are less likely to see marriage as the only option — 56 per cent saying they would not remarry if divorced.

Almost 75 per cent in the “Woman’s World” survey had at least one child, yet only 27 per cent said they would stay in an unhappy marriage for the sake of the children — the same number who said they would put up with things for the sake of financial security.

If a woman feels her marriage is not offering her true partnership, says the report, she will think about the possibility of cutting her losses, or she will even look outside the marriage to find what she feels is missing. Only one in 50 women replying to the survey thought that sex was the most important factor in marriage. Top of the list came friendship (36 per cent), followed by love (32 per cent), and trust (21 per cent). Over-all, 54 per cent felt that having an affair would not help a marriage, although 12 per cent said it could, and another 34 per

cent felt it was possible. On a brighter note, more than 33 per cent of those interviewed said they were more in love with their husbands than when they first got married.