A report called for legal changes to make pre-marital agreements binding, unless upholding an agreement would cause significant injustice.
Source: A More Certain Future: Recognition of pre-marital agreements in England and Wales, Solicitors Family Law Association (01689 850227)
Links: SFLA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Nov
An article examined evidence that marriage had a strong positive effect on longevity.
Source: Jonathan Gardner and Andrew Oswald, 'How is mortality affected by money, marriage, and stress?', Journal of Health Economics, Volume 23 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2004-Nov
The government announced a series of measures aimed at reducing the number of forced marriages. It included a new joint Home Office-Foreign Office Forced Marriage Unit; a consultation on whether to create a specific criminal offence of forcing someone into marriage; forced marriage to be targeted as a specific abuse in the context of safeguarding the welfare of children; and the minimum age for marriage entry immigration clearance to be raised from 16 to 18.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 27 October 2004, columns 49WS, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 27 October 2004, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Hansard | Home Office press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Oct
Divorces rose by 3.9 per cent in England and Wales, to a total of 153,490 in 2003, from 147,735 in 2002. This was the third successive annual increase, and was the highest annual number of divorces since 1996.
Source: Press release 31 August 2004, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: ONS press release (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Aug
An article reported findings from a qualitative study of 39 men and women aged 25-40 which investigated the social context for the legal regulation of couple relationships - whether marriage, cohabitation or civil partnerships.
Source: Mavis Maclean and John Eekelaar, 'The obligations and expectations of couples within families: three modes of interaction', Journal of Social Welfare & Family Law, Volume 26 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2004-Jul
An analysis of data from the United Kingdom 2000 Time Use Survey showed that couples spent an average of two and a half hours a day together on shared activities, with about a third of that time taken up by watching television. Having children of any age reduced the time couples spent together.
Source: Reg Gatenby, Married Only at the Weekends? A study of the amount of time spent together by spouses, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: Report (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jul
An article provided provisional summary statistics of marriages solemnised in England and Wales during 2002. There were 254,400 marriages in 2002, 2 per cent more than in 2001 and 17 per cent fewer than in 1991. The average (mean) age at marriage continued to increase for both men and women: the average age for men marrying was 35.3 years and for women 32.6 years, compared to 34.8 and 32.2 respectively in 2001. The provisional marriage rates increased for both men and women in 2002: for men it rose from 27.4 men marrying per 1,000 unmarried men in 2001 to 27.9 in 2002, while the corresponding increase for women was from 23.7 in 2001 to 24.2 in 2002.
Source: 'Marriages in England and Wales, 2002', Population Trends 115, Spring 2004, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2004-Mar
An article presented summary statistics on families in England and Wales. Of the population living in households (51.1 million) in England and Wales, 83 per cent were living in families in 2001; a further 0.9 million people did not live in households but in communal establishments. In 2001, there were 21.7 million households containing 14.7 million families. 63 per cent of households contained only one family (and no others) and 30 per cent were made up of one-person households. The remaining 7 per cent included other household types such as groups of adults (either related or unrelated) and households containing one or more families with others. The number of families grew between 1991 and 2001, due to a growth in the number of cohabiting-couple and lone-parent families.
Source: 'Families in England and Wales, 2001: numbers and types', Population Trends 115, Spring 2004, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2004-Mar
In mid-2002, 30.9 per cent of those aged 16 and over in England and Wales were single; 52.5 per cent were married; 8.2 per cent were widowed; and 8.4 per cent were divorced.
Source: Mid-2002 Marital Status Population Estimates: England and Wales, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: Report (Download page) | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2004-Feb
There were 254,400 marriages in England and Wales in 2002, an increase of 2 per cent from 249,227 in 2001. This increase followed the lowest annual number of marriages seen since 1897 in 2001.
Source: Press release 12 February 2004, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2004-Feb