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You are here: Home / Choosing Lingerie / Divorce rate hits 40-year low as couples marry later in life, and figure looks …

Divorce rate hits 40-year low as couples marry later in life, and figure looks …

June 30, 2012 by  
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By
Steve Doughty


PUBLISHED:

19:40 EST, 29 June 2012

|

UPDATED:

19:41 EST, 29 June 2012

Divorces have fallen to their lowest level for nearly 40 years.

There was a one per cent fall last year and a larger drop is predicted as divorce petitions fell three per cent.

Although fewer couples are choosing to marry, it appears those who do are older and more likely to stay together.

Figures show people tend to marry later in life, but are more likely to stay together

Figures show people tend to marry later in life, but are more likely to stay together

Divorce became common in the 1970s after the introduction of quickie and no-fault divorces, and reached a peak of more than 165,000 in 1993.

But since then — apart from a brief rise after 2000 and a one-year blip in 2010 — official splits have waned.

There were 119,610 divorces in 2011, one per cent fewer than the 121,265 in 2010 and there were 129,298 divorce petitions filed — down three per cent from the 133,499 in 2010.

A  Ministry of Justice analyst said: ‘The decline reflects the smaller married population and a higher average age at marriage.

‘The younger a person marries, the higher the probability of divorce so the trend to delay marriage has contributed to the decline in divorce over the last 20 years.’

The average age at which a woman first marries has reached 30 as millions put off raising  families for the sake of education and career building — and as many choose to cohabit.

Researcher Harry Benson of the Bristol Community Family Trust said: ‘Those getting married are generally more committed. People who are decisive enough to get married are more likely to stay together.’

He said that divorce early in a marriage is where most of the fall in divorce is taking place.

Author on the family Jill Kirby said: ‘Divorce figures may reflect the fact that fewer people are getting married.

‘But the biggest cause of family break-up is the untold numbers of unmarried cohabiting couples, whose families fall apart at five times the rate of married families.’

Since 1993 official splits have waned

Since 1993 official splits have waned

The lowest figures for divorce since the 1970s were recorded in 2009, when the MoJ counted 115,174. The low figure is thought to have been brought about by the onset of recession and financial difficulties for couples whose relationships were already rocky, and there was a sharp rise again in 2010.

The long-term fall has now been restored by the latest count.

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, the last year in which there were fewer than 120,000 divorces before the current decline was 1974.

ONS figures – which will not be published until the late autumn – are similar to those provided by the MoJ, but there are always small variations. Officials admit these are largely due to counting errors by civil servants.

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No matter what age you are – it all depends on luck whether you last the distance. In life there is always a 50/50 chance at things and marriage is one of them.

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Obviously the number of divorces will decrease if the numbers of marriages is decreasing. Is this news?

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I am married but I know is is in part down to luck if it lasts long term. My wife is wonderful and I love her more now than ever. The old drive to get married fairly young and have kids and start a family evaporated when women were enchouraged to work becaue although the family are wealthy in money they eventually loose a lot of time and costs in childcare which put people off. Also, it is very hard for Mr+Mrs average to get a mortgage without both working full time because the house prices are too high still. All in all marriage in the old sense of a happy family and 2.4 children and a family holiday every year has become harder to attain. Also, more women don’t want to be ‘breeders’ and more men are happy to settle for that these days…hence, no need to get married.

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Men are finally cottoning on that it’s all about money for women. Sad but oh so true. A bit like people are cottoning on that m.p.s. are just people like you and me. The dream is over.

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A generation of young men have grown up and have seen what divorce has done to their fathers; emotionally and financially. If you marry a woman with little or no assets compared to your own, you are effectively handing your wife a firearm called ‘Divorce’ and hoping that they never use it…… no wonder people are becoming increasingly cautious……….I know one divorced woman who told me that she hopes her sons don’t marry someone like herself!

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I fully belive in the institution of marriage but having gone through a procedeure imposed upon me as a result of the stupid law change and bias towards women it is one of the worse risks a man can make in todays society. Too many women see it as a cash certainty with no risk to them losing children. I am not surprised divorce rates are going down which is more to do with less people marrying. Let’s be honest, with the ease in which couples can divorce and devaluing the institution, soon to be made law, just what is the point of it. Leftie ‘ progressives ‘ have crucified it to suit a political agenda and we see the results in our society and are not allowed to speak honestly anymore about the reasons as it is not pc.

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Would the fact that the average Joe Soap simply can’t afford to divorce not play a huge factor in the above statistic…

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My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met

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a 1% fall this year does not indicate ‘divorce rates are dropping’ – eeejits. It’s a tiny fluctuation on an overall increasing number. Anyhow since many honest British couples are no longer getting married and there are so many other ‘sham’ marriages being conducted, it’s pointless even trying to guess what the real numbers are.

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Only men that are loopy get married. Have girlfriends and they will get nothing lol

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