Relationships and family—a comparison of two generations

It's nothing new that opinions differ on topics such as relationships, cohabitation, and family. But what about different generations? Do we think differently at 30 than we do at 50? In a Germany-wide survey, we at LemonSwan asked 683 of our members. Here are the exciting results:

Women over 50 are surprisingly unconventional

Do you think that the older generation in particular still lives according to traditional relationship patterns? Far from it. Women over 50 are surprisingly unconventional. Freedom is particularly important to them in a relationship. Almost one in four single women over 50 would prefer to have their own apartment even in a relationship. Among men over 50, however, the figure is only 8 percent.

When the younger generation is asked about living together, the picture is much more traditional. Only 2 percent of women and 4 percent of men do not want to live together during a relationship. For more than half, however, living together is part of a serious relationship.

But regardless of whether they live together or not, everyone agrees that regular contact is important in a relationship. Around two-thirds of the single women surveyed think it is important to be in daily contact with their partner. Among men, the figure is even slightly higher. Only 3 percent of women and men cannot imagine being in constant contact during a relationship.

No consensus on educational attainment and social status

While men largely agree on the issues of educational attainment and social status, there are clear generational differences among women.

For women over 50, it is particularly important that both partners in the relationship have a similar level of education. 65 percent of them attach great importance to this. Social status is also important to around half of all single women over 50 in our survey.

Younger women place less importance on these factors. Only 44 percent want a partner with at least the same level of education, and only one in three attaches importance to social status.

An interesting finding: men, regardless of age, attach significantly less importance to these two factors. The educational level of their partner is not important to almost 70 percent of all respondents, and around half of them do not care about social status either.

Women under 40 are most likely to believe in equality

We are pleased to see that the outdated role model of women staying at home to look after the children while men go out to work is now rarely found across all generations. 72 percent of all women over 50 and 69 percent of all men reject the traditional division of roles and say: “Raising children is a job for both parents!”

The change in roles is most pronounced among women under 40. Here, a full 80 percent are in favor of an equal distribution of child-rearing responsibilities.

Marriage is less important to older generations

When it comes to the question of “wedding yes or no?”, there are clear age differences. In the younger generation, more than a third of those surveyed want to get married later in life. Among single men, the desire is even stronger at 39 percent than among women at 31 percent. Only one-tenth of those under 50 would never consider getting married.

The situation is quite different for the 50+ generation. Here, around one-third of all respondents cannot imagine getting married (again).

When it comes to sex, all generations agree

When it comes to what happens in the bedroom, men and women across all generations agree. Around 70 percent say that the regularity of sexual activity says something about their satisfaction in their relationship. Only around 14 percent do not define a happy relationship in terms of sexual activity.

However, when it comes to the question of whether partners should share a bed, there are surprising generational differences. While more than half of the younger generation believe that sleeping in the same bed is an essential part of a relationship, women aged 50+ in particular need more space. Around a quarter of them do not want to share their bed again after what has in some cases been a long period of single life. Only 10 percent of male singles say the same.

Conclusion: Many things change with age, but not everything!

We have found that most women and men's views on family and relationships change as they get older. We gain experience, learn from our mistakes, and know what we want, and that's a good thing! Ultimately, the only thing that matters is that we are happy with ourselves, our relationships, and our lives.