News


Poor people less likely to marry than rich

24th November, 2014

The latest statistics from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has shown that the division between rich and poor people in the UK is having an effect on those who marry and those who do not.

The latest data shows that those who are ‘better-off’ are almost 50 per cent more likely to get married than people with less money.

The information from ONS came following a request by Fraser Nelson, a writer for the Spectator.

It showed that since records began in 2001, the likelihood that someone in the top social class would marry over someone in the bottom social class had doubled, from 24 per cent to 48 per cent.

This may not be surprising as the cost of an average wedding in the UK has also gone up massively within the last ten years – now costing couples around £21,000 on average.

Christian Guy, the director of the Centre for Social Justice, said “Marriage has become a preserve of the better off. That means we have much less stability throughout the population.”

He added that the current benefits system in the UK encouraged people on lower incomes not to get married or live together. He said: “You are better off financially if you live apart. The cost of getting married is also putting people off having a wedding.”

However, this trend has led to a boom in the number of couples cohabiting together, which brings with it, its own range of problems – particularly around the rights of each individual.

Last month The President of the Family Court Sir James Munby called on the Government to bring the rights of cohabitees in line with those of married couples to reflect the changes in British Society.

He has since been joined by High Court judge Sir Nicholas Mostyn who said that he didn’t feel marriage was necessarily a better form of relationship than a couple living together.

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