MARRIAGE

• changing attitudes


  less pressure to marry

  no longer seen as compulsory

  more freedom to choose what type of relationship we want
• secularisation


  reduce in religion, means marriage isn't believed to be as necessary to have kids.

  more normalised to not be married
• declining stigma


  more normalised to cohabit instead of getting married straight away. Can see if it is what you want.

  Single parenting is more normalised
• changes in the position of women


  more independence

  not judged for wanting to focus on career and life before marriage

  can support themselves without a husband
• fear of divorce


  scared to get married as they feel it is more likely to get a divorce

  financial scare

  lots of marriages end in divorce now, adds to the fear
• cohabitation


  fasted growing family life

  19% of families are cohabiting

  increased by 144% from the 1990s to 2020s
• number of marriages

  for men and women marriages have declined.

  66% of UK families include a married couple

  19% are cohabiting

  roughly 70 per 1000 marriages in 1970 and now 20/1000
• ceremony type

  1990s non-religious ceremonies became more popular

  less than 20% if ceremonies were religious. 1960 it was 60%
• average age at marriage


  age has increased by 9% since 2000

  Men get married at an older age

  average groom in 2000 was 32 in 2023 was 34

  average bride in 2000 was 29 in 2023 was 32
• remarriage rates

  67% of marriages are first marriages

  32% of marriages involve at least one person remarrying

  15% of marriages involve both partners remarrying