A recently conducted survey revealed that British citizens are becoming more liberal when it comes to sexual activity, with most finding nothing wrong with having premarital sex.

With 3,000 respondents, the annually taken British Social Attitudes survey revealed that 70 percent of its randomly-chosen respondents think that there is nothing particularly wrong with engaging in sexual encounters with partners before marriage. The number indicated a significant difference from the 48 percent recorded back in 1984.

The results also showed that 66 percent thought there was only a slight difference between a married couple, and those living together. Fifty-four percent, meanwhile, thought that couples do not specifically need to reside in the same house to have strong, committed relationships.

A total of 69 percent see happiness as something not dependent upon having a partner, according to the AFP. Meanwhile, 10 percent thought that those who live unattached are incapable of properly maintaining a relationship.

The survey results also showed that 42 percent thought that a single parent is capable of raising a child just as well as with a partner; 41 percent said otherwise.

A notable revelation was the British's reaction towards homosexual relationships, as according to the UPI, while 41 percent disagree that a homosexual couple can raise a child just as good as a mother and a father, 31 percent agreed that they could.

"The heterosexual married couple is no longer central as a social norm," said co-author Professor Simon Duncan of the University of Bradford.

The usual question regarding the acceptance of gay relationships yielded results showing 18 percent seeing it as always wrong, and 32 percent saying it is always or mostly wrong.

The survey, entitled "New Families? Tradition and change in Modern Relationships" was done as the 24th report by the National Center for Social Research.