Divorce rates at their lowest for years
Saturday, September 22nd, 2007 |This is interesting, according to the BBC divorce rates are at their lowest since 2000
The divorce rate in England and Wales fell by 8% last year to its lowest level since 2000, according to the Office for National Statistics.
There were 141,750 divorces in 2005, compared with 153,399 in 2004.
Marriages which ended in divorce were on average lasting a little longer at 11.6 years in 2005, compared with 11.5 the previous year.
Divorces in Northern Ireland fell by 6% to 2,362 in 2005 and in Scotland the drop was 3% to 10,940.
Most divorces were granted to wives, and in more than half these cases, the husband’s behaviour was the reason cited.
For men awarded a divorce, the most common reason was two years’ separation with consent.
A fifth of people divorcing in 2005 had already had a previous marriage end in divorce
What do you make of that then?
Men and women under 40 saw the biggest drop in divorces, with cases in that category dropping by 13% and 12% respectively last year in England and Wales.
There’s a surprise, could it be because less people are getting married perhaps?
People in their late 20s had the highest divorce rates of all five-year age groups.
I’m not surprised by this either. People often get hitched far too young, I know I did!
All age groups experienced a decline, apart from for women aged 60 and over, where there was an increase of 2%.
That aspect is a big surprise. Why would there be an increase in women over 60 getting divorced? I always thought that people over a certain age just kind of get used to each other perhaps having a greater tolerance etc…maybe not.
