Male pensioners are much more likely to tie the knot than men in
their early twenties, according to startling new research
exposing the scale of the collapse in marriage rates among men
and women over the past few decades.
The marriage rate among men aged 66 and over is 5.6 per 1,000
compared with 4.1 per 1,000 among men in their early twenties.
But as recently as 1997, the marriage rate among young men was
five times that of pensioners (23.1 versus 4.8).
A new report from the influential Centre for Social
Justice, I Do?, warns that England and Wales are facing
a total collapse in marriage, particularly among young
Brits.
The number of marriages has sunk from 400,000 in 1973 to 224,402
in 2023, despite the UK population rising by over ten million, 56
to 67 million. This is the lowest number of marriages in a year
since records began in the 1850s, outside of the Covid years.
The CSJ is particularly concerned that 100,000 of the lost Covid
weddings were never rescheduled. There was no post-Covid bounce
in the numbers, instead the marriage rate is already back below
the pre-pandemic record lows. This is at odds with previous
shocks such as the two World Wars which saw spikes in marriage
rates over the following years.
Marriage is down by 77 per cent for men and 73 per cent for
women in just fifty years. Before the 1980s, the marriage
rate had never fallen below 47.7 – which was during World War I –
it is now 18.1.
The CSJ's analysis reveals that this drop is especially stark
among young men and women. Over the past 50 years, marriage for
young people in their early twenties has almost completely
disappeared.
In 1970, 62 per cent of men had ever married by age 25, by 2000
this was 11 per cent and it is now just two per cent. 25 was the
average age marrying as recently as 1975.
Meanwhile, the median age at marriage for women has hit 33 years
old for the first time. It had never exceeded 30 in recorded
history at the turn of the century.
The think tank goes on to show how this precipitous decline has a
serious negative impact on Brits and the nation.
It says that marriage is “a major protective factor” in domestic
abuse. Cohabiting individuals are twice as likely to be victims
of domestic abuse as married individuals. Those who are single
are three times more likely to suffer than those who are
married.
Cohabiting couples are almost twice as likely to separate during
the early years of their children's lives. No matter the economic
background of parents, marriage makes relationships more stable.
Previous CSJ research has made clear that kids' lives and
outcomes are far better off when parents are together.
On top of this, the CSJ says that marriage is greatly beneficial
for the economy as lone parent households are over ten times as
likely to be long-term workless households as couple parent
households.
It is not all bad news though. A clear majority of Brits still
want to get married, even among those least likely to be married
nowadays. Among those under 30 and unmarried, nearly nine in ten
(86 per cent) of unmarried women and eight in ten (80 per cent)
of unmarried men want to get married.
At the same time, divorce rates continue to decline since their
peak in the 1990s. The percentage of couples divorcing by their
10th anniversary is the lowest it has been for
forty years (in 2023 it was 16.8 per cent compared to 16.7 per
cent in 1983).
Dan Lilley, Programme Lead at the Centre for Social Justice,
said:
“This is devastating news. Marriage is one of the most important
foundations of society with clear benefits across our country.
Better outcomes for children, less loneliness, greater prosperity
and birth rates. This is without mentioning the productivity and
other economic benefits”
“People want to get married. We need to be helping foster good
relationships and an environment where marriage is much easier.”
