Marriage Trends...

Okay, so I have been searching the web for a few stats in regards to marriage trends since the 1970's. It's been interesting to say the least!

The Daily Mail reported that in 2010, the number of weddings in England and Wales rose to 241,000, that's 8,657 more than in 2009. It would appear that marriage is once again fashionable, after the lowest number of weddings since Queen Victoria was on the throne. In 2012, two out of three civil weddings took place in golf clubs, stately homes and other such venues. Church of England wedding also saw a 4% rise in 2010.

The Daily Mail also reported that in 2010, England and Wales saw the highest percentage of divorces, with the lowest of marriages since Victorian times.

The age with the lowest percent of marriages was the under 20's, which was less than ten thousand. The age group with the high test number of marriages was the 25-29 group, with more than 70,000 marriages taking place.

However, all academic research available shows that married couples are generally happier and better off, in comparison to those in cohabiting situations. This also applies to the children, with the children of married couples being generally happier and doing better in school. Obviously this is not a blanket approach, every case is different, these are just the statistics! This can be corroborated by the Office for National Statistics, which also points out that civil weddings account for 68% of all marriages in 2010 in England and Wales.

The Australian Institute of Family Studies shows that in 1975, 16% of marriages were preceded by cohabitation, in comparison to that in 2008, where statistics show that 78% of marriages were preceded by cohabitation!

There's some food for thought!