There is a gradual change in the marriage trend as the statistics show - Marital Statistics for Sheffield (as of 2003)

According to the Government Actuary's Department and the Office for National Statistics, recent trends in marriage, divorce and cohabitation continue to follow their 1996-based results of population projections by marital status.

The results suggested that marriage rates at ages under 30 would continue to fall over ensuing years which would increase the number of marriages over the age of 30. This factor has materialised yet another factor to consider is that, although a larger number of people are marrying later, the increase in the number of people not marrying at all is also rising alarmingly, as the next ten years will show. The results also suggested that the proportion of single people (never married) who cohabit would rise dramatically and that there would be marked falls in the married population generally. Key results of the projections include:

• The proportion of the adult population who are married will fall from 55 per cent in 1996 to 45 per cent by 2021.
• The proportion of the adults who have never married will rise from 32 per cent in 1996 to 41 per cent in 2021 for men, and from 24 per cent to 33 per cent for women.

Under the assumptions for these projections, the number of cohabiting (unmarried) couples estimated to be 1.56 million in 1996, would almost double over the following 25 years. All the figures were calculated as a national average and the projections were not far off the mark either. Of the Sheffield population in 2003, the number of unmarried people over the age of 15 was approximately 34 per cent (1 per cent below the projected value). Below is a table depicting the population, the proportion of which are men and women and a graph showing how the population is split into age ranges. The blue line shows the national average. One obvious factor is that the number of 20-24 year olds is a lot higher in Sheffield than the national average. Lastly, there is a table showing the division of households between people who are married, unmarried, divorced/separated and widowed.
 
So why the gradual change in the marriage trend? Could it be suggested that legal implications on separation and divorce scare most out of the thought of marriage to begin with? Or could it be that the increasing ease to divorce within the judicial system is making the marriage constitution and its vows less meaningful? If you have any views on this, or you feel a little wary of marriage, please do get in touch with us and tell us why at info.sheffield@webexpressguide.com

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