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UK Wedding News

17/11/2014

Report Unveils New Marriage Statistics

New marriage statistics for Britain have been published, but the authors of the report have described some of the findings as "bleak".

Among the findings, the report – commissioned by The Marriage Foundation – found that there is a "stark difference" between teenagers who are predicted to marry, and those who will never marry.

For example, while two-thirds of women who will marry and have children, they will remain with the father for life, the study said, while among women who never marry, just one in 10 will stay with their partner.

The difference is also noticeable between the various generations.

According to estimates, 52% of 20-year-olds today will tie the knot, compared to 68% of the previous generation, who are now in their 40s.

This figure is despite 75% of teenagers admitting they would like to get married at some point in their life.

Of those 20-year-old women who will marry and have kids, 34% are said to avoid the break-up of their family by the time their child reaches 15. However, this compares to just 5% of 20-year-olds who will never marry.

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Looking at the previous generation of women, of the 68% of 40-year-olds who have married or will marry at some stage, 45% will still be married to the father when their child is in their mid-teens.

For the 32% of 40-year-old women who will never marry, only 3% who have children will remain with the father until their child reaches the age of 15.

Harry Benson, author of the report, said: "This is bleak news for the next generation. Despite the fact that the huge majority of teenagers want to get married, only half will do so.

"They themselves will miss out of the greater stability marriage provides, but the ramifications will be felt most by their own children, who face high odds of growing up without a mother or father at home."

He continued: "Single parents do an astonishing job, bringing up children single-handedly, but I think few people would choose this situation for themselves or suggest that it is easier for the children.

"Moreover the process of family breakdown is very damaging for all concerned. Children from broken families are more likely to be involved in truancy, juvenile delinquency, joblessness and depression.

"Currently, family breakdown costs the Exchequer around £46 billion a year. That's the equivalent to the entire defence budget. I don't see how the country will afford the steep rise of this bill that this increase of broken families will bring over the next few years."

Sir Paul Coleridge, Chairman of the Marriage Foundation, added: "I am profoundly saddened looking at these forecast outcomes for the next generation.

"Forty years spent working in the family courts has shown me the sheer pain and human suffering of family breakdown for everyone concerned – the children and parents obviously, but also aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends.

"I fear it will only get worse as fewer and fewer children will know what it is to have stable, married parents at home as they grow up. We are facing a crisis of confidence in the institution of marriage. We must do something to stem the tide of family breakdown."

(JP/CD)

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"New marriage statistics for Britain have been published, but the authors of the report have described some of the findings as "bleak"."