At least one-third of British women believe so.
Some 31 per cent of women who took part in a poll said that marriage was no longer relevant in modern society. More than 70 per cent said couples married too quickly without thinking carefully enough.

"This shift in attitude may be a testament to the fact that women feel liberated enough, sexually and socially, to not have to walk down the aisle, or it could be that today's cynical attitude to almost everything has minimised marriage to an outdated, over-romanticised practice," said psychologist Linda Papadopoulos.

Most recent official statistics showed that the number of marriages annually in England and Wales fell from 351,973 in 1981 to 270,700 in 2004. About 54 per cent of men and 50 per cent of women were married, while 10 per cent of men and nine per cent of women lived together.

The poll also explored womens' attitudes to work - 70 per cent of women feel pressure to earn as much money as men, while one in 10 said they would be unlikely to quit their jobs to look after children, even if they did not need the money.

"Older women are, in fact, more cynical when it comes to their views on marriage," Papadopoulos said. They were less inclined to think that marriage should mean one partner for life than younger ones.

The research was conducted by Experian for vitamin supplement Vitabiotics Wellwoman and questioned 2134 women aged 18 and over during September 2006.

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