New research from The Times has found that young adults have a more conservative view of sex and relationships than previous generations.
The study, which drew on a sample of over 1,000 participants aged between 18 and 27, revealed that only a fifth of gen Z believe marriage is “irrelevant”, while a third thought it better for a couple to be married before having children.
The findings reveal that young people today are more in favour of marriage than young people 20 years ago, when 39 per cent thought marriage to be irrelevant.
The survey also highlighted a shift in young people’s attitudes towards casual sex. Only 23 per cent of 18 to 27-year-olds said their friends regularly had one-night-stands – a sharp drop from the 78 per cent of millennials who said yes to that question in 2004.
Relatedly, 16 per cent of respondents said they commonly had sex without a condom outside of long-term relationships – again, a stark contrast to the 52 per cent of millennials who said they did 20 years ago.
In terms of online porn, 40 per cent of gen Z said they believed their friends commonly watched it, compared with 58 per cent of Millennials 20 years ago.
But gen Z aren’t conservative in all their beliefs. Overall, gen Z were found to be more progressive on trans rights compared to previous generations. More than half (56 per cent) said that transgender women should be allowed to use women’s toilets, while 47 per cent said they should be allowed on women-only hospital wards.
More than 60 per cent said schools should allow children to adopt a name, pronouns and clothing of the gender they identify as.
53 per cent added that granting trans people more rights posed no risk to women’s rights.
The research also found that gen Z think Britain is a racist country. 48 per cent think that we are a racist nation, compared with 36 per cent who do not.
Only 41 per cent said they were proud to be British, with just 11 per cent saying they would fight for their country. 41 per cent went as far as saying there were no circumstances at all in which they would take up arms for their country.