Let's stay together: Divorce rates hit 40-year low

Divorce rates have fallen to their lowest in 40 years as fewer people marry young and more couples cohabit without tying the knot.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that 111,169 couples in England and Wales divorced in 2014 — a fall of 3.1 per cent in a year and as much as 27 per cent in just over a decade.

The median age of a marriage is up to 11.7 years, compared with 9.6 years in 1995 and 8.9 years a decade before that.

One rise that was recorded, however, was among women aged 55 to 59.

Nicola Haines, from the ONS, said: “Likely factors include increased cohabiting and increasing age at first marriage.

“Previous research indicates a higher risk of divorce among those marrying younger, while cohabitation may be reducing the number of weaker relationships progressing to marriage.”

Clare Wiseman, a specialist family and divorce lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said: “The divorce rates show that the average age of divorcees is continuing to rise partly because the attitudes of modern society towards divorce have become more relaxed in the past 10-20 years. Most divorcees are now in their 40s.

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“People are recognising that they don’t have to stay in unhappy relationships and the number of dating websites and groups that are aimed at older people show that it is possible to build new relationships no matter what age you divorce.”

She added: “Having said that, the stats show that once a marriage lasts 20 years, there is a much greater chance the couple will stay together. The first 10 years remain the most likely time that a divorce will occur.

“Long term, the statistics show that divorce rates generally are continuing to decline, which may reflect the fact that more people are cohabiting first, which could mean their relationships are stronger when they come to get married, or they are simply choosing not to marry in the first place, particularly if one or both parties have had a previous relationship and/or are wealthy in their own right.”

Sir Paul Coleridge, chairman of Marriage Foundation, said: “It really is heartening news during the season of family goodwill that the number of intact families is not declining despite the generally held myth that divorce is simply set to get worse and worse.”

However, one lawyer, Collette Bailey, partner in the Family team at Gardner Leader, argued that many would get divorced – but can’t afford it.

She said: “The ONS dip in divorce rates may not be down to the number of people willingly wanting to stay together but is more likely to do with the increasing pressure and expense of divorce since the removal of legal aid in 2010.

“We did a study earlier this year on 2,000 divorced and married couples in England and Wales, and found that 18 per cent are co-existing to avoid the cost and stress of divorce.”