A report released for National Marriage Week in mid-May showed that only a third of British couples eat together all or most of the time and around a quarter of couples eat together rarely or not at all. However, couples who do make the decision to eat together consistently reported a higher enjoyment of their meal and may even have happier relationships.
67% of married couples who ate together were very happy with their relationship, compared to 58% of those who ate apart. This links in with previous research which showed that occasional ‘date nights’ – intentionally setting time aside to spend together – considerably reduces the risk of divorce for couples.
The United Kingdom Time Use Survey 2014-15 looked at eating habits on one weekday and one weekend day among more than 7,600 people in over 4,000 households. It found that 35% of married couples and 28% of cohabiting couples ate together often (more than 80% of the time), while 22% of married couples and 27% of cohabiting couples ate together rarely (less than 40% of the time). The survey also found that only 12% of parents with children aged 0-7 ate with their children.
Phone free
Encouragingly, the report suggested that ‘device free’ meals are on the increase, with only 14% of people reporting using their phones while eating. Results showed that couples were 8% more likely to enjoy their meal if they didn’t use a phone while eating. While it is difficult to tell whether eating together improves relationships in themselves or whether couples who have good relationships are more likely to eat together, it seems fair to conclude that couples who make the effort to eat together – especially without being distracted by a phone - are overall happier and enjoy their meal more as a result.
