Love, marriage and divorce centre stage

Friday 08 February 2008

Over half of the country’s women are seriously concerned about their partnership or marriage while almost 90% say that a good relationship is the most important thing in their lives according to a poll published on Friday by TNS Nipo.

Love and marriage – and divorce –are all on the agenda this weekend with the annual Household Fair in Amsterdam’s Rai and the first ever ‘divorce fair’ which is taking place at Utrecht’s Jaarbeurs.

The TNS Nipo poll was carried out on behalf of the Household Fair and looks at what make women happy.

As well as a satisfying relationship with their partner, 33% said they love shopping and 39% said reading a book was their answer to a stressed life.

And stress is right up there with a good relationship when it comes to the percentage of women who feel their life is too busy (exactly the same at 88%), the researchers say.

Money (12%) and a career (8%) scored low on the list of women’s priorities when it came to happiness.

Meanwhile back at the divorce fair, the emphasis is on mediation. This event is the initiative of mediators Felix Merks and Fred Schonewille.

And to make it easier to get your partner to go to a relationship therapist, this ‘couple’are planning to launch an insurance policy against a poor marriage this summer, reports Friday’s Financieele Dagblad.

‘People see their partner as a piece of furniture in which they don’t need to invest time and energy. This attitude means people grow apart and the relationship bleeds to death,’ they tell the paper.

Merks and Schinewille believe that many of the country’s 60,000 divorces a year could be prevented by mediation.

© DutchNews.nl

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