HAVING an affair with a married person is seen as acceptable by more than half of us, a shock poll has found.
Just 48 per cent reckoned sex with someone who is wed was morally wrong.
The other 52 per cent either thought having a bit on the side was OK or just did not care.
The same question in a 1989 survey found 52 per cent were against affairs.
Since then there have been big swings in our views on homosexuality, having children out of wedlock and divorce — but not cheating.
Alex Bogdan, report author for market researchers Ipsos, said: “We also asked if people thought marriage was dead and there was some shift but most people still believe in it.”
Just under half of adults in England and Wales are married or in a civil partnership, down from 58 per cent in 1991.
YouGov polling in July found 17 per cent of UK adults admit they have cheated on a partner.
There was no significant difference between men and women’s views on affairs.
But 53 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds said they were morally wrong.
Participants were asked to pick out unacceptable behaviours from a list of 20.
Seventy-one per cent objected to hard drugs, such as heroin, followed by football hooliganism on 62 per cent.
Affairs ranked third.
Ms Bogdan said: “I found that issues of morality still very much matter in 2026.”