Pressure from family to wed increases risk of divorce

COUPLES who “slide into marriage” because of family pressures are up to 50 per cent more likely to divorce than those who marry for love, a study has found.

The Marriage Foundation survey found that the “reasons why people get married has a significant material impact on whether they stay together”.

The study, Attitudes Towards Marriage and Commitment, questioned 2,000 adults who had married, and also focused on a cohort of 905 couples who married for the first time after the year 2000 in the era of online dating.

Researchers found that those who said they “felt they had to marry due to family pressure”, had a 34 per cent probability of divorce, significantly higher than the 23 per cent of couples who did not identify these reasons. “Put another way,” the charity said, “couples who tied the knot due to family pressure were 50 per cent more likely to split up.”

The study also found that those who agreed that their marriage “just kind of happened” – or “slid into it” – had a 29 per cent chance of divorce compared with 22 per cent of those who disagreed.

In contrast, those who were more intentional about their marriage, who agreed that they married “in order to build our life together” were more likely to stay together.

They divorced at an overall rate of just 24 per cent compared to 37 per cent among those who did not agree.

Sir Paul Coleridge, the charity’s founder, added: “Drifting into marriage with only a vague idea about the impact on your life over the long-term undermines the psychological bond which we call commitment.”