14,000 more single people recorded in last census

THE number of single people in Barnsley has sky rocketed in the last decade, new figures have confirmed.

Following the most recent census, it’s been revealed that 73,099 people were single – up from 59,269 in 2011.

Of those aged 16 and over, 36.6 per cent were classed as being single.

Only 43.6 per cent were married or in a civil partnership last year, down from 47.8 per cent a decade ago.

An additional 514 were in same sex marriages in Barnsley in 2021 – they were illegal in 2011.

The figures also show 195 people were in same sex civil partnerships last year and 126 were in opposite sex civil partnerships. There were 311 people in civil partnerships ten years prior, which were only allowed for same sex couples at the time.

There were 21,131 divorced people and 52 people with a dissolved civil partnership in Barnsley last year, making up 10.6 per cent of people aged 16 and over.

John Wroth-Smith, Census deputy director, said: “When looking a bit deeper, we can see that the proportion of people in a marriage or civil partnership has declined, which follows the long-term trend of declining marriages.”