Fewer marriages ending in divorce
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20794505
bbc.co.ukPosted Dec 20, 2012, 11:54 AM UTC
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bbc.co.ukI wonder how much that is down to people not being able to afford to get divorced at the moment.
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I think it is because people don't get married until they are certain the relationship will work. 5/6 year engagements while living together with kids seems to be normal.
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I'm in that boat. Separated for 5 years, but can't afford to get divorced. God, I wish I could afford it though!
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This is just my example, and statistically doesn't mean much, but still....
I married a holiday romance, one year after getting engaged which was a year after meeting abroad (she was living out there) and getting her to move back to UK. We didn't even live together until after marriage (because of circumstances, rather than any notions of decency) - in short, we did everything in the manner that you're not 'supposed to'.
At our engagement we had the usual naysayers who quite openly questioned why we were bothering at all when 50% of marriages ended in divorce. My reply was along the lines of 'that's everyone else. I can't speak for them'. Also, more than a few girls asked "But how did you know she's the one?" My reply to this still stands; "If you can think if a single reason not to do it, or an area you might have to compromise, then don't do it. Just don't". I therefore like to think that others have followed this method, and that's why fewer are getting married but those marriages are lasting longer.
We've now been together seveteen years, and I still feel that first flush of amazement that I've convinced her to go out with me every day :-)
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1.9% isn't really a dramatic reduction though is it? Look at that graph, it's all over the place. It's roughly followed the trend of number of marriages.
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http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/64871000/gif/_64871177_divorce464x360.gif
i wonder what caused the divorce spike after ww2!
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IANAE but I believe it was down to several reasons: returning servicemen (mainly) not being able to adjust to civilian life again - not being the 'same' person they were when they left. This is understandable considering how long many men were away and for how long. Having a spouse you can no longer relate to and being unable to adjust probably saw a good deal of depressed, lonely men (and women) in the decades following the war.
Also factor in the change in the role of women that took place during the war: many women took up the positions that previously only men had held, because there were far fewer men around to fill those jobs. Factory jobs for instance. Men who had left their good and obedient housewife at home returned to find her the by-default head of the household used to holding things together and much more independent.
Those are two reasons I believe played a part. Another one, though perhaps more minor, was the possibility of the couple falling out of love while they were separated, and also infidelity.
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Well, there goes the argument that gay marriage will "undermine the institution of marriage". And it isn't even law yet.
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Fewer marriages happening.
It's dropping as a proportion of total marriages..
The fact is still relevant though. Marriages don't happen until people are convinced now. There are no more shotgun weddings and other madness. People tend to cohabit forever and then get married when that falls apart. Of course this is going to reduce the number of divorces as a proportion. Fewer stupid marriages happen.
Marriage rates haven't been this low since 1890. They're down 200k (annually) since the 70's.
Yeah and that is primarily because people aren't getting married until they are certain it will work.
If you're interested, there is a really good paper by Liefbrouer and Dourleijn (2006) which examines this. Essentially when cohabitation becomes more popular, marriage will become more stable due to selection effects.
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