The last two decades have shown a shift in British opinions about sex and marriage, but their behavior is slower to change. The British Social Attitudes Survey polled 3,600 people from across England on a number of issues and reported that, despite only 17 percent of men thinking that it’s their job to make money while a woman stays at home, 75 percent of women in relationships are stuck doing the laundry.

The 408-page survey shows that British people have become generally more open toward premarital sex and homosexuality. In 1983, when the survey was first conducted, the majority of people thought that homosexuality was wrong and nearly half disapproved of premarital sex.  he 2008 survey shows that less than a third of the population now looks down upon homosexuality. 

Two thirds of the population responded that there is little social difference between a couple living together and being married. As a result, England’s marriage rate is at its lowest in over 100 years. 

Although their opinions on sex and marriage are becoming less conservative, British opinions on raising children are notably different. Respondents were split between whether a single parent could raise a child as well as a married couple. Less than a third said that a gay couple’s parenting skills were as good as a heterosexual couple and 42 percent said that they were not.