The childhood fantasy of meeting the man, or woman, of your dreams, having an extravagant wedding, then settling down to have children in your dream home, appears to be less sought after now.
Or so it seems, I say this because I was shocked to discover that the Office of National Statistics has reported that the amount of marriages in the UK, in 2009, was only 231,490; which is the lowest recorded amount since 1895.
Two years on from this startling fact, I decided to take a look at why this decrease in marriage is happening and what the future holds for love.
With scary facts being thrown around, such as 40% of all marriages ending in divorce, it's understandable why some may be hesitant in committing to one person permanently. Consequently, are people hoping to be the "lucky" ones who do get married or are they holding back so they don't have to deal with the unfortunate likely conclusion of divorce?
It could be argued that the independence of women is one of the causes for this decrease in marriage, due to the constant growth of determined and dedicated women in the workplace and the pressure being put on that "glass ceiling", a woman's home life could have to take a back seat. This means that they could have less time to date and therefore take longer to find "the one" or their relationships could suffer due to their busy work schedules. Cornell predicted this change in the way women would perceive themselves back in 1986, it was thought women would no longer think of their lives being centralised around their domestic responsibilities and become independent workers; which is now true.
However, due to the dramatic professional changes from men working in manual labour, as they typically did in earlier decades, to now most having office careers, due to the increased technology available now, it is important to remember they could have busy work lives too and are equally a factor.
Contrastingly, society as a whole could be a reason for this decrease in marriage. The youth over the last couple of decades has been on average much less religious, shown in the statistic that 67% of all UK marriages in 2009 were civil ceremonies (legal) opposed to religious. Therefore, it can be argued that the reason for less married couples is because people can now get partners without having to put a ring on their finger so why settle down? Also, it is now deemed acceptable by most to have children out of wedlock therefore a wedding is not deemed as the "next step" in a relationship as it once was.
Alternatively, committing to a relationship at an older age could be favourable, for not only your partner but for your kids too. The higher level of maturity and economic stability, which you typically gain with age, would naturally make for a happier union-- and therefore make divorce less likely.
It seems the easiest option is living with the one you love without getting legally attached; also known as cohabitating. The General Household Survey showed that "39% of single individuals aged 25 to 34 were cohabiting. Although this proportion was lower for those aged 35 to 49, it was still 30%. Similarly, the proportion of divorced men and women who were cohabiting was 47%." So perhaps they learnt their lesson?
Ultimately, what will the future hold for the younger generations? Will it become a rare thing to get married? Will the rate of cohabitation continue to rise? I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the future holds.