Off the wire
• 1st LD: French PM announces candidacy for 2017 presidential race  • Spain's consumer confidence rises by 8.7 points in Nov  • British FTSE 100 rises 0.24 pct on Monday  • West Bank village objects plan to resettle Jewish settlers  • Pakistan hands over 4 Mushshak aircrafts to Nigerian Air Force  • Tanzania to export six million tones of pulses to India  • Tanzanian health minister warns of possible new cholera outbreak  • Kenya's former striker inducted into Hall of Fame  • Tanzania to amend anti-graft laws to give heavy punishment to offenders  • U.S. stocks rally after jobs report  
You are here: 　 Home

Divorce rates in Britain continue to fall, says ONS

Xinhua, December 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

Britain's divorce rate is falling, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed Monday, with more couples cohabitating rather than marrying cited as a key reason.

ONS said there were 111,169 divorces in 2014, a decrease of 3.1 percent compared with 2013 and a decline of 27 percent from a recent peak in 2003

Around 240,000 marriages took place during the year.The highest number of divorces in 2014 were among men aged 45 to 49 and women aged 40 to 44.

The figures indicate that in 2014, the latest year for which figures are available, there were 9.3 men divorcing per thousand married males, a decrease of 5.1 percent compared with 2013 and a fall of 30.6 percent from a recent peak in the divorce rate in 2004.

In 2014, there were 9.3 women divorcing per thousand married females, a decrease of 5.1 percent compared with 2013 and a drop of 29.5 percent compared with 2004.

The ONS figures also showed that on average most marriages last 11.7 years before ending in divorce, a figure unchanged for several years. Over the last 50 years, the average duration of marriages have fluctuated between 8.9 years and 12.2 years.

ONS statistician Nicola Haines said: "Compared with 2004, divorce rates in 2014 were lower for all age groups except women aged 55 and over. Likely factors include increased cohabiting and increasing age at first marriage."

"Previous research indicates a higher risk of divorce among those marrying at younger ages, whilst cohabitation may be reducing the number of weaker relationships progressing to marriage."

A spokesman for ONS said: "Changes in behaviour and attitudes to divorce are considered to be an important factor behind the increase in divorce rates between the 1960s and the early 1990s. The Divorce Reform Act came into effect in England and Wales in January 1971, making it easier for couples to divorce upon separation. This caused a large increase in divorce rates in 1972."

"Changes in attitudes to cohabitation as an alternative to marriage or prior to marriage, particularly at younger ages, are likely to have been a factor affecting the decrease in divorce rates since 2003. The levels of cohabitation increased over this period while the married population declined."

"With those marrying in their teens and early twenties being at greater risk of divorce; our marriage statistics show that the average age at marriage has increased steadily since 1970 for both men and women," said the spokesman. Endit