A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 1,000 adults found that 56 percent of married respondents regard their marriages as excellent, while 29 percent categorize them as good. Just 1 percent report that their married life is poor. Although Americans seem overwhelmingly to rate their marriages as good or excellent, those married five years or less are the most enthusiastic, and women are more likely than men to say their marriages are good.

The questions did not define marriage, but 56 percent of adults think it is very important as an institution to U.S. society. Forty-seven percent feel that children are a very important factor in a marriage’s longevity. Eighty percent of all Americans believe it is very important for children to grow up in a home with both their parents rather than parents that are divorced.