When a marriage begins the words most likely to come out of each partner’s mouth are I love you, but new research has shown that this sharing of romance dies down as the years roll on.
Research from YouGov has found that around 30 per cent of couples who have been together for more than 50 years never say it anymore, but that nearly one in five (18 per cent) keep the romance alive and say it on a daily basis.
The survey conducted among 2,072 British adults in long-term or married relationships found that those who have been together between two and five years say it the most, but after a few years the frequency begins to drop.
The study also revealed that as time goes on people describe their relationship differently.
Unsurprisingly, people who had been together less than a year were most likely describe themselves as “head over heels, butterflies in the tummy” in love with their partner. However, only four per cent of couples who have been together more than 50 years described their relationship in the same way.
The study also revealed that 23 per cent of married couples said they loved their partner, but were not ‘in love’ with them, while 11 per cent of married couples felt their relationship was more about ‘practicalities’ than love and 3 per cent weren’t sure if they still loved their partner at all, which would equate to around 90,000 people in the UK based upon the findings.
The research indicates that 70 per cent of the British adult population are currently in a relationship and of those 46 per cent are married.
The latest research forms part of a wider study on love and marriage in the UK.