Fewer divorces now than at any time since 1971

The number of divorces in a year has fallen below 100,000 for the first time in five decades.

there were 98,919 divorces finalised in the courts in England and Wales in the year to the end of March – the lowest since 1971, the year that modern divorce laws were introduced.

Divorce numbers broke the six-figure barrier in 1972 and reached a peak of 165,000 in the early 1990s.

But a transformation in the way people choose to marry and the increasing solidity of marriages in recent years has brought a swift decline in both divorce numbers and the likelihood that any marriage will break up.

the record low for modern era divorce was revealed in figures for decrees absolute – the final legal approval for divorce – ordered by the family courts. they come in advance of the official tally of divorces registered last year, to be released by the office for National statistics later this week.

However divorce numbers and rates may rise again in coming years if the Government goes ahead with its promised divorce reform. Ministers plan to remove the idea of fault from divorce, so that no one will be accused of adultery or unreasonable behaviour, and grant an automatic divorce after six months to anyone who asks for it.

the reform – the culmination of a long- running campaign by judges and lawyers – is being introduced in the name of taking conflict out of break-up, but ministers have admitted it is likely to produce a short-term boom in divorce numbers and may lead to a long-term increase in divorce.

the court figures released by the Ministry of Justice show that there were 102,898 decrees absolute approved in 2017, a figure slightly higher than the previous modern-era low, recorded in 2015.

But they show that in the first three months of this year only 24,000 decrees absolute were confirmed by the courts, a record low for the quarter.

the Ministry of Justice analysis said: ‘there were 27,401 divorce petitions made during January to March 2018, down 1 per cent from the same quarter in 2017, while there were 24,000 decrees absolute granted, down 14 per cent over the same period.’

the 98,919 decrees absolute approved over the year from the beginning of April 2017 to the end of March 2018 was down from 109,557 over the previous 12 months.

Divorce numbers shot up after the liberal reforms in 1969 but have been steadily falling since the mid-1990s.

the fall has followed the arrival of cohabitation as the lifestyle of choice for millions of couples in their twenties and thirties and a dramatic rise in the age at which people choose to marry. in 2015, the last year for which figures are available, the average age of a woman marrying a man was over 35, compared to under 25 in 1970.

there has also been a major change in the background of people who choose to marry – most weddings now involve middle class or wealthy couples, while marriage has largely disappeared among lower income couples.

Academic and author on the family Patricia Morgan said: ‘the people who marry these days are people who marry later, and who intend to stay married. they are usually people who understand the damage and cost they and their families would suffer from divorce.’