Popularity?

Marriage remains popular and successful.

Most young people aspire to marriage; 92% of 15 year olds want to settle down and marry one day (Sex Under Sixteen, Family Education Trust research report 2000, and Bliss Magazine 2004)

The numbers of marriages are falling - there were 236,980 marriages in England and Wales in 2006 of which 144,120 were the first marriage for both partners (ONS 2008)

People are waiting longer to marry these days. The average ages for first marriages in 2006 were 31.8 years for mean anda 29.7 years for women (ONS 2008)

Most marriages last a lifetime - 66% of first marriages and 60% of all marriages last until one partner dies (Social Trends 2004 ONS)

The median time to divorce is 11.1 years - about the same as in the 1960's (Social Trends 2004 ONS)

In 2002, 54% of men and 50% of women aged 16 and over were married, and just 10% of men and 9% of women were cohabiting (ONS General Household Survey 2002)

Divorce rates have remained constant at about 12.7 per thousand marriages/year since the 1980's