The Marriage Foundation has welcomed figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), saying they show that marriages are the strongest they’ve been for 50 years.
The ONS figures for 2023 are significant because they show the primary full 12 months wherein “no-fault divorce” became law. The Marriage Foundation was in favour of the change on the grounds that it might remove blame from the divorce system and make it a kinder process.
While the ONS figures did actually show an increase in divorces following the change, the Marriage Foundation described the rise as “small” and noted that other aspects explained the rise, one being the quicker rate at which divorces are processed and the opposite being courts clearing up a backlog of cases stemming from the Covid lockdowns.
The introduction of no-fault divorce implies that divorces can now proceed more quickly. Prior to this, couples wishing to divorce had to attend two years to have consensual divorce or put the blame on one spouse for a quicker arrangement.
While it may appear odd for the Marriage Foundation to be in favour of no-fault divorce, the group pointed to research that implies that legal barriers don’t act as a deterrent to those wishing to finish their marriage.
The foundation’s evaluation of the ONS figures suggest that divorce rates are currently at their lowest level since 1970 and that fears of a surge in divorces after the change haven’t materialised.
Harry Benson, Research Director on the Marriage Foundation said, “The change within the [divorce] rate is lower than lots of the fluctuations we have now seen lately.
“In short, there are not any signs in anyway of an increase in divorce rates. In fact these figures as our evaluation shows confirm divorces are still at levels we last saw back within the Seventies.
“So this is nice news on two fronts. Marriages are the strongest in 50 years and the legal system is now kind and sensible to those for whom it doesn’t work out.”
He added, “These figures are also a repudiation of those that prophesied a large increase within the divorce rate, by removing blame from the divorce system – those fears were unfounded as many campaigners, like Marriage Foundation and family lawyers Resolution said on the time.”
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