Trends in marriage and cohabitation: the decline in marriage and the changing pattern of living in partnerships.

The number of marriages in England and Wales fell to its lowest level for 50 years in 1993 at just under 300 thousand. In addition, the number of marriages which were the first for both partners was the lowest recorded this century. This article examines the trends in marriage, cohabitation, and of living outside a partnership, to provide some background information to the decline in marriage. Seven out of ten first marriages in the early 1990s were preceded by premarital cohabitation, compared with only one in ten in the early 1970s. Of the couples who lived together before marriage, the median duration of premarital cohabitation was about 2 years for those who first married in the early 1990s, compared with about 1 year for those who first married in the early 1970s. Over one in 5 of non-married men and women were cohabiting in 1993, compared with under one in 7 in the mid-1980s. On the basis of these trends which have persisted for a number of years, as well as the growing tendency to live outside a partnership, the incidence of marriage, particularly at the younger ages, seems likely to decline further.