Over half of all marriages end in divorce (the figures to prove it!)

[devolution]

As I have been saying for a number of years, marriage is such a disposable ceremony these days. People waste (sometiems tens of) thousands of pounds (or dollars) on a lavish performance, which is pointless, since many marriages end in less than a year!

The figures for 2001 UK Divorce/Marriage rates have just been released from Statistics.gov.uk today:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/md0703.pdf if you're interested

Marriages - 249,227 (-7% on 2000) [the lowest since 1897!!!!]
Divorces - 143,818 (+1.9% on 2000)
That's a 58% divorce rate!

Stunning figures eh? :laugh:

These are pretty depressing figures :cry:, just showing how committed people are these days. You don't need to get married to show someone you love them - and you musn't get married just to shore up a relationship (95% of marriages that are performed to try and shore up a relationship end in divorce within a few months).

The average marriage costs around £10,000 including gifts, dresses, ceremony and honeymoon. For those divorced that's a waste of £1.4 billion !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's just such a sham - as I said you don't need to get married to show someone you love them. Marriage is just some silly public show - it's amazing how many people believe that getting married will somehow magically make their lives easier, and fulfilling! :laugh:

What's everyone elses' opinion on marriage?

 

[Anthony Ng]

Okay ... before we go any further, could anyone please clarify the following terms:

A. Love
B. Sex
C. Marriage
D. Wedding

 

[devolution]

Love - A feeling of belongment between two people.
Sex - A physical act of reproduction (which can reinforce love - but many people get confused and think sex is love).
Marriage - A symbolic act originally created to form a 'spiritual' bond between two people in the eyes of god.
Wedding - Orginally the marriage ceremony.

 

[Momentum]

Just a guess but it sounds like you are trying to provide reasons to your significant other for not taking the plunge! Unfortunately the decision to get married is often not made with the logical side of the brain if you know what I mean. I will keep my input short and just say that marriage can be the best thing in the world, but it can also be the worst thing in the world. Unfortunately there is not a lot of wiggle room in between, so make your choice wisely.

As far as the wedding ceremony goes, I am all for it. Weddings are really just a good excuse for a huge party and/or family reunion. And don't forget about the bachelor(ette) party! I was 28 when I got married so I helped to pay for some of the expenses. $10,000 for a wedding is not that bad. I think our's cost more because it was at a very classy country club, but we were able to keep the cost reasonable by limiting the number of guests. Another plus for having a wedding is the gifts. Obviously!

It is very sad to see such a high divorce rate in the UK. I know in the US it is also around 60% and here in Jacksonville, FL it is closer to 80%! I remember seeing the results of a study last year of people one year after a divorce. What is really sad is that it showed that the vast majority of people who got divorced were generally less happy one year after the divorce then they were while they were married. Sometimes the grass isn't greener on the other side!

You are not alone in criticizing marriage as a just a silly tradition. But maybe it is time to look at divorce under the same light and see the true "cost" incurred by the families and children involved. My deep thought of the day ....

 

[Anthony Ng]

Well ... my take is that [color=ff0000]marriage[/color] is a commitment between 2 persons and does not cost a cent at all. Legally speaking a couple may be asked to render a nominal fee for a licence or something; but in many countries, it is not required as common-law couples' rights are duly recognized. It also has nothing to do with God, unless you are a religious person.

[color=ff0000]Wedding[/color] on the other hand could cost all your savings and is more a statement that two persons are getting together. It inevitably includes gifts, dresses, feasts, etc. Throughout the history of mankind, this kind of ceremony has become a custom; of course, with the ever-changing socio-economic conditions of the human society, more and more people are now redefining how THEIR OWN wedding should be like.

Hmm .. it's almost time. Class dismissed. Next time, we'll talk about love and sex, or even divorce.

Oh ... by the way, the divorce rate you (devolution) mentioned as quoted by statistics.gov.uk is actually only 1.3%. The number of marriages in 2001 divided by the number of divorce during the same year does NOT render the conclusion that "over half of all marriages end in divorce".

 

[vivnet]

Originally posted by devolution

The average marriage costs around £10,000 including gifts, dresses, ceremony and honeymoon.

That's roughly $16,000.00 - Think of how many domain names you can reg for that!!! Over 2,000 - that would give Yun Yee (sp?) some competition!
- Just my silly thought for the day....

 

[Anthony Ng]

Originally posted by vivnet

That's roughly $16,000.00 - Think of how many domain names you can reg for that!!! Over 2,000 - that would give Yun Yee (sp?) some competition!
- Just my silly thought for the day....

Sorry to be off-topic, but your 2,000 domain names actually count for less than 2% of Yun Ye's total. Hmm ... I guess Yun Ye should be living like Caligula now.

 

[vivnet]

LOL! :laugh: Maybe that's why Yun Ye isn't married......or is he?

 

[OFS]

Marriage use to be a lifetime commitment. (Divorce was previously not an option.) People were more commited because divorces were almost impossible, so you went in with the mentally that this was for life, good or bad. And really it almost was.

Second for many people still, marriage is for religous or cultural convictions.

The marriage ceromony is choice. (An expensive choice but a nice gesture for those getting married.)

 

[Domainaholic]

This has been a trend from the early 60s I think - decrease in marridge, increase in divorce.

As for myself - I'm married most of the time