Thursday, August 22, 2002
Lowest level of marriages recorded in Australia in a decade
A story released today by the Australian Associated Press reports that Australians are no longer in a hurry to walk the marriage aisle since half those marriages end up in divorce and seven in 10 couples are living together before they tie the knot.
New Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures showed the lowest levels of marriage per capita in 100 years in 2001, with only 5.3 people in every 1,000 making the commitment.
The lowest number of registered marriages in 20 years was also recorded in 2001, with just 103,100 couples pledging to spend their lives together, compared with a record 117,300 marriages in 1982.
And those who do marry are delaying the decision, with the median age for men marrying for the first time rising from 24.4 years in 1981 to 28.7 years in 2001.
For women the median age for first marriage rose from 22 years in 1981 to 27 years in 2001.
"Similarly, increases were recorded for men and women remarrying," the ABS found.
With the exception of 1976 when 63,200 couples divorced after the Family Law Act was introduced, the highest number of divorces were granted in 2001, with 55,300 couples splitting.
"While the divorce trend between 1981 and 2001 has been upwards, the high number for 2001 may have been contributed to by the introduction of the Federal Magistrates Service in September 2000," the ABS said.
"In its first full year of operation the Federal Magistrates Service dealt with 51 percent of all divorces granted in Australia."
