| International News

In proportion to the current population, the number of marriages in the United Kingdom has reached the lowest point since record keeping began 150 years ago. Government leaders and others are pointing fingers in several directions as they try to understand the trend.

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) – The Office for National Statistics in Great Britain released their 2006 statistics, showing that the number of marriages that year was proportionally the lowest since records were kept 150 years ago.

The actual number of weddings held during that year have not been as low since 1895, when the population was about half of what it is today.

Government leaders and critics have been busy trying to point figures at the reason for what some are calling the withering away of marriage.

Some detractors are pointing at the Labour Party’s benefits system as one possible reason for the lower count. The system does not take marriage status into account when deriving compensation and actually awards single parents.

Researcher Patricia Morgan told the London Evening Standard "This is what they have tried to achieve and they should be congratulating themselves, but it is a disaster for children, families and society."

She credits the Labour Party with the eradication of marriage.

The figures, given by the Office for National Statistics, indicated that in 2006 fewer than ten in every 1,000 single adults in England and Wales were married. Among men, the rate was 22.8 in every 1,000; among women 20.5.

In 1862, the year these rates were first calculated of record-keeping, the level was 58.7 for men and 50 for women.

Here is the raw data for 2006:
• There were 236,980 marriages
o 228,204 were recorded in 1895 with half the population
o The downward trend began in 1972 with 426,000 marriages
• One in four single women under retirement age is thought to be living unmarried with a partner.
• Two-thirds of all weddings in 2006 were civil ceremonies.
• Religious marriages numbered fewer than 80,000. .
• The age of first-time brides and bridegrooms is continuing to increase. Women are nearly 30 while the man is almost 32.

Trying to explain the downturn, the Office for National Statistics stated that the decrease may be partly due to new restrictions for non-European citizens enacted in 2005.

The government has also begun a major crackdown on fraudulent wedding ceremonies.

The marriage issue is becoming a significant political issue for parties. The Tories have indicated that they want to introduce initiatives for couples to be married and stay together.

David Davis told the London Evening Standard, "This is a sad indictment of the Government's policies which have penalized families and fuelled family breakdown. Stable families are the best formula for bringing up children and preventing delinquency, anti-social behavior and crime.

"So a failed family policy is itself a major cause of crime," Davis added, "Conservative policies will support the family by shifting the tax burden away from families and giving 1.8million families an extra £2,000 a year."