New figures released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the proportion of adult population who are married has fallen below 50% for the first time. This is the continuation of a very slow long-term downtrend that began in the 1970s, which has seen the rich continue to marry, while less than half of those in the lowest socio-economic group wed and in the poorest less than one in five do. This depressing trend will continue until government policy or social culture starts to prioritise marriage once again. And prioritise it should. Any couple who wants their relationship to last should get married.
The fact is that the psychology involved in the act of marriage helps couples want to make their relationship work. The most recent studies show that UK parents are significantly more likely to stay together if they are married, regardless of background. Our own research shows that the poorest married parents are more likely to stay together than the richest parents who don’t marry. So marriage keeps couples out of poverty.
Yet our perverse welfare policy penalises couples who marry by removing their benefits. Every time we see a figure like this from ONS, it should be a reminder to government that they must remove these disincentives and back what works.
Marriage may be no guarantee but it stacks the odds in your favour. Divorce rates are at their lowest since the 1970s. Yet record levels of family breakdown have been driven mostly by the collapse of relationships that never formalised through marriage or civil partnership.
The message from psychology and the data is simple. If you want to stay together, get married!
Harry Benson, Research Director, 15 Oct 2025