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· England and Wales sees 10% fall in a year
· Average age for first-time wedding continues to rise
It is news to make vicars tremble and florists despair. Rates of marriage in England and Wales have slipped to a record low, with the wedding count plunging by 10% in one year alone.
In 2005, the Office for National Statistics revealed yesterday, the proportion of the population getting married was the lowest since rates were first calculated in 1862, 22 years after Queen Victoria herself walked up the aisle in white satin trimmed with orange blossoms. The Church of England described the figures as worrying.
The fall, which saw the number of marriages drop to 244,710, the lowest level since 1896, marks a return to a long-term decline in marriages dating back to 1980 and beyond.
The ONS provisional figures also show that the trend for waiting longer before marrying is continuing. The average age for a first marriage is 31.7 for men and 29.5 for women, four years older than in 1991.
However, another trend - the 15-year increase in the proportion of civil marriage ceremonies - may be faltering: the number of non-religious unions fell 13% in 2005, cutting the share of the total number of weddings from 68% to 65%.
According to statisticians, the drop in marriages in 2005 may be explained partly by legal changes introduced by the government to try to tackle the problem of "sham marriages", in which couples undergo a wedding in order to secure British nationality for one partner.
However, the Home Office yesterday said there was no clear evidence that any fall in sham marriages could have influenced the figures.
The decline could also have been affected by the growing trend among British couples for weddings overseas. Those married abroad do not figure in the ONS statistics as they are under no obligation to register their union back in the UK.
However, given the long-term slide in marriage rates, it is likely that deeper social factors are behind the fall. The growing acceptability of cohabitation, and moves by the government to grant cohabiting couples rights to make financial claims on each other, have reduced social and financial pressures to marry.
The growth in women's educational achievement and career options means most wait longer to tie the knot and have less need to do so for financial security. Census data released in the United States last month revealed that, for the first time, the majority of women live without a spouse.
A spokesman for the Church of England expressed concern but noted that civil unions suffered the brunt of the fall.
"These figures are worrying as the church teaches that marriage is the best option for couples to grow together in mutual support," he said. "We need better figures on marriage that explain that recent fall and take account of the growing appeal of getting married abroad.
"Meanwhile, it is encouraging that church weddings appear to be holding their appeal."
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