British marriage rates fall to a 144 year low

The proportion of Britons choosing to marry is at the lowest level since records began in 1862.

The 2006 figures show that the marriage rate for men was 22.8 per 1,000, and for women 20.5 - the lowest rate in 144 years. There has not been a year with fewer marriages in England and Wales since 1895.

Politicians and financial experts blamed the Government for the fall in the marriage rate, saying that the tax system encourages people to stay single. Academics said that young people were increasingly wary of commitment, and many preferred the freedom of the single lifestyle.

Frank Furedi, a professor of sociology at the University of Kent, said the statistics obscured a deeper problem. “It's not that cohabitation has replaced marriage, it's that more and more people are not able to have close relationships. People who are not married feel they resonate with the times.”

Since 1992 there have been more civil than religious ceremonies. The 2006 figures show that 66 per cent of ceremonies were civil, up by 1 per cent on the previous year, and up from 47 per cent in 1990. Religious ceremonies continued to decline in popularity, down by 7 per cent since 2005 and reduced by half since 1991. Over the same period the total number of marriages fell by 23 per cent.

Claire Tyler, chief executive of Relate, said: “According to recent official data, two thirds of the population now feel that there is little difference socially between living together and being married. We are also finding that those who marry today tend to be older and wealthier. It seems that society is separating along socio-economic lines and the common experience of marriage no longer exists in the way it used to.”

Source: The Times 27/03/08