Big reduction in divorces as couples wait longer to split

DIVORCING couples are now splitting up later in their marriage, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show.

Data released yesterday show that couples who split in 2017 had been married an average of 12.2 years, equalling the record set in 1972.

Divorce rates are the lowest since 1973, with 8.4 divorces of opposite-sex couples per 1,000 married men and women aged 16 years and older.

The rate was falling among all age groups, apart from the over-60s where it stayed the same as the previous year.

“Divorce rates for opposite-sex couples in England and Wales are at their lowest level since 1973, which is around 40 per cent lower than their peak in 1993. However, among older people rates are actually higher in 2017 than in 1993 – perhaps due to the fact we have an increasingly ageing population and people are getting married later in life,” said Nicola Haines, of the ONS’S vital statistics outputs branch.

However, there was a significant rise in divorces among same-sex couples, from 112 in 2016 to 338 in 2017, with almost three-quarters of the splits coming between female couples. Data is limited because same-sex marriage was only made legal in March 2014.

Ellen Walker, an associate solicitor with Hall Brown Family Law, said couples were increasingly likely to try to work through their problems rather than split up.

“Many men and women have told us that’s because they view divorce with great uncertainty, something which might well impact badly on their children and their finances,” she said.

Analysts suggested that older couples were less affected by stigma surrounding divorce, and that older women were more likely to be happy to walk away from a marriage because they were increasingly financially independent.

“The social stigma attached to the ‘D-word’ discouraged divorce, today it is no longer seen as a taboo. Rising employment among women has also led to greater financial independence, meaning a lot of women today, in contrast to history, don’t have to rely on their spouse for an income,” said Maike Currie of Fidelity International.