In the first six years of Marriage Foundation we have focused on establishing the reality of family stability and instability: what actually happens to couples and their children, who stays together and who splits up. This is transforming the debate about marriage which, previously, had been obscured by myths and misconceptions.
This briefing note draws together our most significant findings to date.
See Our Top 10 Key Facts on Marriage
Top Family judge calls on senior politicians to break their decade of silence on the importance of marriage Sir Paul Coleridge, who was a senior
Money may not buy you happiness. But it does generally increase your odds of happily ever after. Married or not, the rich are generally more
Couples who “slide into marriage”, because of family pressure are up to 50 per cent likely to divorce than those who marry for love, finds
Our analysis of new data from Eurostat shows that marriage rates fell in every European country during 2020, the first year of lockdown, except one.
KEY FINDINGS Nearly nine in 10 parents still together with children aged 13-15 are married Cohabiting parents three times more likely to break-up Stability gap
According to the website Hitched, the average UK wedding costs an eye-watering £31,974. This high perceived cost acts as a major barrier to marriage. In
During their first ten years of marriage, one in three couples say they wouldn’t still be together had they not got married. One in four
In our latest paper – covered by the Sunday Times and Mail on Sunday – we analyse data from the survey we commissioned from Savanta
New Marriage Foundation research finds one in five UK weddings involve prenups and that they neither increase nor reduce the risk of divorce Prenuptial agreements
Almost one in three young unmarried UK adults aged 18-30 say they would be more likely to get married if the typical wedding was ‘cheaper,
Our new survey of 2,000 young adults for Marriage Week 10-16 May 2021 finds that over 80% of 18-30s want to marry More than eight
Nine in 10 Tinder and Grindr users now in a relationship want to marry, finds new poll Read our research note here and press release
As we transition our back catalogue of material to the format of our new site you can access it here.
Family breakdown costs £50bn a year
When couples split up, families move from one to two households. Poverty is a common outcome that affects children. Six out of ten lone parents are supported by the state compared to one out of ten couple parents. That's where most of the £50bn is spent.
UK Among highest family breakdown in Europe
Five years ago, the UK had the highest rate of family breakdown in Europe. We're not doing as badly today, but only because of big falls in divorce rates. Alas there's no sign of a similar improvement among cohabitees
Lower Divorce Rates – Higher Lone Parents
Divorce rates have plummeted over the past 3 decades, but the number of lone parents has doubled in the same period. Why?... Because unmarried parents make up only one in five cohabiting parents but are responsible for one half of all family breakdown.
Stability is found in Marriage
Whereas stability is the norm if parents are married (75% stay together), it is the exception if they are not (30% stay together). As a result, among parents of teens who are still together as a couple, nine out of ten are married
Single Most Important Factor
The single most important factor in a child’s healthy development is the stable relationship of the parents. Our groundbreaking research shows that family breakdown is the #1 predictor of teenage mental health problems.
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