Advertisement

Divorce rates increase for the first time this decade as over-50s untie the knot

divorced wife shredding wedding photo - Getty Images Contributor
divorced wife shredding wedding photo - Getty Images Contributor

Divorce rates in England and Wales have increased for the first time this decade according to the Office for National Statistics.

There were 106,959 divorces of opposite-sex couples in 2016, an increase of 5.8 per cent compared with 2015, with men and women getting divorced at a rate of 8.9 per 1,000 married people - up 4.7 per cent.

The last time there was an increase in divorce rate was between 2009 and 2010.

Divorce rates are increasing fastest among older people
Divorce rates are increasing fastest among older people

Divorce rates among opposite-sex couples in 2016 were highest among men aged 45 to 49 and among women in their thirties (ages 30 to 39). This reflects the fact that women generally marry men older than themselves.

However, for both men and women, it was the over-50s where the rate of divorce increased by most last year.

More than 13,000 women aged 55 and above divorced in 2016, while for men the figure was 19,454 - both double-digit percentage rises in rates per married population and raw numbers compared to 2015.

The average age of divorcees rose to 46 for men and 44 for women, the highest these numbers have been on record.

The average duration of marriages ending in divorce reached 12 years last year - the second highest figure on record. The last, and only other time, this figure was 12 years or longer was in 1972.

Average duration of a marriage at divorce is now 12 years
Average duration of a marriage at divorce is now 12 years

Divorce rates remain low in historical terms

While 2016 saw an increase in the divorce rate across England and Wales, in historical terms the figures are well below the peak of divorce in the early 1990s.

Nicola Haines, Vital Statistics Outputs Branch, Office for National Statistics said: “Although the number of divorces of opposite-sex couples in England and Wales increased by 5.8 per cent in 2016 compared with 2015, the number remains 30 per cent lower than the most recent peak in 2003; divorce rates for men and women have seen similar changes.

"This is the second year that divorces among same-sex couples have been possible since the introduction of marriages of same-sex couples in March 2014.

"Our latest marriage figures show that of the 4,850 marriages formed between same-sex couples in 2014, 56 per cent were female couples. In 2016, there were 112 divorces among same-sex couples, with female couples accounting for 78 per cent of these.”

Divorce rates are up for the first time since 2010
Divorce rates are up for the first time since 2010

Men are increasingly more likely to ask for divorce

The figures also showed the continuation of a steady increase in the proportion of divorces granted to men due to their wives' behaviour.

Of the  106,959 divorces granted in 2016,  41,669 were granted to men - the equivalent of 39 per cent of all divorces.

This figure has increased in all but three years since 1992 when the proportion of divorces granted to men was just 27.7 per cent.

The most common grounds for divorce was unreasonable behaviour, with 36 per cent of all husbands and 51% per cent of all wives petitioning for divorce on these grounds.

This encompasses a broad range of behaviours from improper extra-martial relationships to persistent excessive gambling or alcohol consumption. 

Men are asking for more divorces
Men are asking for more divorces