SECOND TIME AROUND: THE MID-LIFE DIVORCÉS SPURRING REMARRIAGE 

Published on 23 January, 2025 | Laura Guillon

In recent years, family life in England and Wales has seemed very dynamic.

Yet, for all this change, commentary about what has been happening in households has contained certain recurring themes.

One of them is the apparent demise of marriage.

It is true that the number of marriages in 2022 – the most recent year for which such figures have been made available by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) – marked a drop of more than 40 per cent on the figure half a century before (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/marriagecohabitationandcivilpartnerships/bulletins/marriagesinenglandandwalesprovisional/2021and2022).

It is also correct that the number of unmarried couples has increased by two-thirds in the last two decades alone (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/populationestimatesbymaritalstatusandlivingarrangements/2022).

Experts regard both as being largely related to a shift in the attitudes of younger couples.

As a result, the average age at which people marry has crept up. In 2022, there were 55 per cent fewer men and 65 per cent fewer women below that age who wed in 1997.

The same is not true for older generations. In fact, the number of men over 50 who marry has risen by one-third in the last decade, while the proportion of women above that threshold is up 47 per cent over the same period of time.

While there is a similar trend among men in their sixties, the number of women of that age group who wed between 2012 and 2022 increased by 56 per cent.

If we look even closer at the ONS’ data, something arguably even more intriguing emerges.

The number of individuals who marry having previously been through a divorce has fallen by almost one-fifth in the last 10 years.

You might be forgiven for thinking that they simply don’t want to run the risk of a repeat. After all, no matter how amicable those involved try to make the process, the ending of a relationship can leave them feeling emotionally – and, sometimes, financially – bruised.

However, the numbers demonstrate how that is not necessarily the case for everyone. Once again, it is in those of or approaching retirement that we find significant change.

The number of divorced men and who choose to remarry when aged over 50 has increased by 22 and 36 per cent respectively in 10 years.

The attitudes of the over-50s to further relationships stands as a particular contrast when we look at how younger individuals who have been either married or in civil partnerships regard cohabitation.

Such relationships have fallen by just under one-quarter in the decade to 2022.

It begs the question why older couples should apparently not be as deterred as their younger counterparts from forming another relationship.

I believe that the answer comes down to how they regard their place in society.

Not too many years ago, anyone aged 65 might be expected to head for a peaceful and rather sedentary retirement.

However, as I’ve been telling James Beal, the Times’ Social Affairs Editor, our view of age has undergone something of a transformation in recent years (https://www.thetimes.com/article/3b44ca68-59fa-4ab8-8db0-cea3cf7e380e?shareToken=70ea22ec9a103d74d07aa2792af7aac9).

A considerable number of people in their sixties who have retired consider it an opportunity to start the second phase of their lives rather than a reason to slow down.

One factor in their thinking is doubtless the fact that people are now expected to live longer – on average, 79 years for men and 83 years for women – than earlier generations (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/bulletins/nationallifetablesunitedkingdom/2021to2023).

Even after having been through a divorce, many of those individuals want someone to share the rest of their lives with, especially if they have the financial means provided by a private or workplace pension.

They don’t do so on a whim, however. In the experience of myself and my colleagues, they are more inclined to marry having put in place a pre-nuptial agreement.

That is not just in recognition of the fact that more than 40 per cent of marriages end in divorce before spouses celebrate their silver wedding anniversary.

If they have children from previous marriages, pre-nups can ensure that inheritances remain intact regardless of the course which subsequent formal relationships take.