Skip to main content
Legal news

Marriage rates hit a new low

Jonathan Winston Jonathan Winston
1 min read

The Office for National Statistics has produced new figures which show that marriage rates are at their lowest ever level.

The 2009 figures showed that 21.3 out of every 1,000 males over the age of 16 were married, down from 22.0 the year before, whilst 19.2 women were married, also down, from 19.9 in 2008. The ONS statistics also looked at the number of wedding recorded in 2009, which was 231,490 in England and Wales, the lowest recorded figure since 1895.

The marriage figures follow a month on from ONS figures which also showed a drop in the divorce rates in England and Wales, down 6.4% on the previous year, the lowest figures since 1974.

The ONS believes that the drop in the marriage rate is down to an increase in the number of people deciding to live together rather than going straight into marriage, and also more people deciding to delay their wedding. It says that the unmarried population, aged 16 or over, has consistently increased over the years, therefore that cannot be used an excuse for the low marriage rate.

Jenny North, head of public policy at Relate, the relationship support group, said that the ONS figures were worrying, adding that people were still aspiring towards getting married but fewer were actually fulfilling that aspiration.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/marriage-rate-falls-to-record-low-2257527.html

Client feedback

Every part of the process was well explained and dealt with in a swift/timely manner.
Mark
Heidi was very helpful with my compensation application and was able to answer any questions I had in a timely matter
Anonymous
Very efficient and always available to answer any questions
Alastair
Winston Solicitors handled our recent house purchase and sale and provided an excellent service throughout. Sidraa Razaq, supported by Tom McIlroy, exhibited an outstanding professionalism, expertise, and responsiveness from te moment we first made contact, all of which made what was at times a less than straightforward transaction much easier to navigate. I'd have no hesitation in recommending them to others.
Kieran
Excellent service, very efficient and able to answer questions when needed.
Ben
Fast, excellent and highly professional conveyancing solicitors. Cannot recommend highly enough.
Anonymous
Winstons are brilliant, very responsive to messages, professional and patient. Fantastic customer service- face to face and email/telephone. Would 100% recommend!
Lucy
I recently contracted Winston Solicitors to support me in obtaining a grant of probate following the death of a parent. I worked closely with Emily and found her to be supportive, have great communication and be able to navigate the IHT and probate processes very efficiently.
John
Contact Jonathan