Marriage Trends

Question 1

A statistic to show that fewer people are marrying:

What was the marriage rate in 2010?

Answer 1

8.7 (this means out of a group of 1000 eligible people there would be 8.7 who are married)

Question 2

A statistic to show that fewer people are marrying:

When was the lowest marriage rate since 1862?

Answer 2

2009

Question 3

A statistic to show that remarriages are increasing:

A pattern of serial monogamy has emerged, since which decade has the trend of remarriages increased?

Answer 3

1970s

Question 4

What were the average ages for first-time marriage in 2010 and how much of an increase was this from 1971?

Answer 4

Men: 32
Women: 30
Increase of 8 years from 1971

Question 5

In which year did civil ceremonies first exceed the number of religious ceremonies?

Answer 5

1992

Question 6

What are the four key patterns and trends in marriage?

Answer 6

• fewer people are marrying
• remarriages are increasing
• people are marrying later
• civil ceremonies have increased

Question 7

Within the trend of remarriages increasing, what is another pattern that has emerged?

Answer 7

A pattern of serial monogamy has emerged