Oh wait, hang on. That’s a a 32 year low for divorces in the latest figures for England and Wales:
The Office for National Statistics says,
In 2009 the divorce rate in England and Wales fell to 10.5 divorcing people per thousand married population compared with the 2008 figure of 11.2, a fall of 6.3 per cent. The divorce rate is at its lowest level since 1977 when there were 10.3 divorcing people per thousand married population.
The figures were published this month by ONS and cover 2009.
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6 Comments
… is it because fewer people are getting married in the first place?
Interesting. I wonder whether that’s because fewer people are getting married in the first place, and the ones who are are more sure about what they’re doing… that would lead to a higher percentage of non-divorcing married couples.
I also wonder how equal LGBT marriage and civil partnerships will affect these statistics </obplug>
Chris / Dave: the figures are for the number of divorces per 1,000 married people, not per 1,000 of the population (in case you missed that). So the simple answer is – no, but it might be that if fewer people are marrying the sort of people who are marrying is also changing?
Mark – I had spotted that!
I was thinking along the same lines as you and Dave… if fewer people are getting married on the whole, then perhaps people who are getting married are those who are more committed to their relationships, or feel greater pressure to remain in marriages, or a host of other factors….
Chris and Dave are correct. Mark is wrong to say that “the simple answer is – no”, though he is right that “if fewer people are marrying the sort of people who are marrying is also changing”. Specifically, as Chris points out, “ple who are getting married are those who are more committed to their relationships, or feel greater pressure to remain in marriages”, particularly the former.
Interestingly, one can make an economic argument here, too. Weddings are expensive (and the costs have ballooned). This acts as a barrier to entry, and is only a worthwhile investment if you expect the marriage to last. Of course, one can marry on the cheap but most people do not.
Basically, though, I think it boils down to the fact that people don’t feel any pressure to marry so there is no reason to do so unless they are very sure that it is the right move.
BTW: Mark, do you have any socio-economic profile data for marriages? Might be interesting.
“Weddings are expensive (and the costs have ballooned). This acts as a barrier to entry, and is only a worthwhile investment if you expect the marriage to last.”
Indeed. It’s time for a reaction to the idea that a marriage is an occasion for a fabulously expensive party, or even an intercontinental journey. The essentials are that families and friends get together to witness a meaningful ceremony, in the community where the couple have connections and have a party afterwards that isn’t too far from their normal lifestyle. Some enduring marriages started with a ceremony that was very austere by contemporary standards, and the lifestyle afterwards followed on. So perhaps we should also be having a reaction against some to the extravagances promoted by ‘lifestyle’ programmes and magazines.