‘Cheaper marriage fees would help to combat epidemic of loneliness’

Marriage fees should be reduced by the Government to combat an epidemic of post-Covid loneliness, a think tank has said.

Research by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), founded by Sir Iain Duncan Smith, found that 60 per cent of people felt lonely most, often or some of the time, with its prevalence having increased by five per cent since the pandemic.

Loneliness was highest among adults aged 18 to 24, where seven in 10 said they had experienced the condition at least some of the time. This compared with under half of those aged over 65.

People cohabiting were about half as likely to be lonely as their single peers and married people were even less likely than cohabitees to be lonely.

In its Lonely Nation report, published on Tuesday, the CSJ recommended the Government should encourage people to form relationships and marry by discounting the administrative, legal and booking fees for weddings for couples in relative or absolute low income up to £550 per wedding.

“Receiving the discount would be contingent on participating in a marriage preparation course. This would help people to form stable and secure long-term couple relationships which are predictive of low levels of loneliness,” said the CSJ.

“We also ask the Government to identify incentives to separate or live apart in the way that benefits are administered or by the way the fiscal system interacts with couple households.”

Marriage became less important

Taken together, the annual cost would be about £35 million, a fraction of the estimated £2.5 billion price of loneliness to employers alone through time taken off for illness, poor mental health and lower productivity.

Half of adults agreed that marriage had become less important, leading to more loneliness, with only 28 per cent disagreeing. In 2023 fewer adults were married than not for the first time.

In the poll of 2,000 adults commissioned by the CSJ, half said that marriage was important and that the Government should offer more financial support to couples. Only 32 per cent disagreed.

The CSJ also proposed a government family office with a dedicated minister for family and a review of the tax system.

Josh Nicholson, a CSJ senior researcher, said: “Helping more people to get married by subsidising the bill for those on the lowest incomes offers significant health, social and economic benefits for them and the taxpayer.

“Loneliness is a rapidly growing problem with more than 30 million people in the UK feeling lonely at least some of the time.

“Our research confirms that family relationships, and particularly marriage, are the best defence as well as providing many more benefits over the long term.”