People, population and community
There were 101,669 divorces of opposite-sex couples in England and Wales in 2017, a decrease of 4.9% compared with 2016, but similar to the number seen in 2015 (101,055).
There were 338 divorces of same-sex couples in 2017, more than three times the number in 2016 (112 divorces); three-quarters (74%) of same-sex couples divorcing in 2017 were female.
The divorce rate for opposite-sex couples was highest among men aged 45 to 49 years and women aged 40 to 44 years.
Unreasonable behaviour was the most common reason for opposite-sex couples divorcing with 52% of wives and 37% of husbands petitioning on these grounds; it was also the most common reason for same-sex couples divorcing, accounting for 83% of divorces among women and 73% among men.
Nicola Haines, Vital Statistics Outputs Branch, ONS, said:
Divorce rates for opposite-sex couples in England and Wales are at their lowest level since 1973, which is around forty per cent lower than their peak in 1993. However, among older people rates are actually higher in 2017 than in 1993 – perhaps due to the fact we have an increasingly ageing population and people are getting married later in life.
The number of divorces among same-sex couples more than trebled between 2016 and 2017 – although this is not surprising since marriages of same-sex couples have only been possible in England and Wales since March 2014.
Today’s ONS bulletin shows the different scores given across the UK by local authority areas for four measures of personal well-being (life satisfaction, feeling that the things done in life are worthwhile, happiness and anxiety). For the first time, possible explanations for the observed differences between local authorities at a combined authority level have been examined.
Commenting on the figures, Silvia Manclossi, Head of Quality of Life Team, Office for National Statistics said:
“An important part of our work is looking beyond the economic health of the country to how its people are faring and inequalities in society. Today, for the first time, we have identified how factors such as health, access to services, and crime levels may affect how people rate their well-being in different parts of the UK. This can help local authorities and other organisations to better understand where services could be targeted to help improve the well-being of people in their area.”
Average ratings of feeling the things done in life are worthwhile increased in Scotland. This was driven by a higher percentage of people reporting very high levels for this measure.
Interestingly, there appears to be a greater disparity of life satisfaction in Wales compared with other parts of the UK. A larger proportion of people in Wales reported either low or very high levels of life satisfaction. For happiness and worthwhile measures, a larger percentage of people in Wales gave low scores compared to the rest of the UK.
Compared to both the UK and the other countries, people in Northern Ireland continued to report better average ratings across all personal well-being measures.
Overall, the average ratings across the four measures of personal well-being in the UK were unchanged.
Please note, that if making comparisons between individual local authorities, this will be more meaningful by comparing like with like, such as between several large urban areas, or between rural communities in different parts of the UK. Another option is to present changes in personal well-being over time within the same local authority area, identifying significant changes.
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