Christians are more likely to say they are happy in their marriage than non-Christians, a new Barna study has found.

In the poll of 1,500 US adults, a majority (59%) said they were very satisfied with their marriage, but among practising Christians, this rose to nearly three quarters (73%). A further one in five practising Christians said they were somewhat satisfied. 

The study found stark differences when broken down by gender, with men being far more likely than women to report being very satisfied in their marriage (65% compared to 52%).

There were also differences when it came to age, with millennials (65%) and baby boomers (61%) more likely than Gen X couples - those born between 1965 and 1980 - to say they were very satisfied (47%). 

In separate research last year, the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) found that more and more younger Americans are choosing not to get married at all. 

Its study found that the number of youngsters shunning marriage has reached record levels, with over a third (35%) of those aged 25-50 having never been married. 

In 1970, just 9% of Americans in the same age group reported never being married.

In December 2019, the Journal of Sex Research published a study which found lower levels of sexual satisfaction among couples who co-habited before marriage compared to those who only started living with each other after tying the knot.