A new survey finds that women are waiting longer than ever to wed. The study revealed that the average age to get married, for women, was passing 35 for the first time.
The odds of couples tying the knot at all have also fallen to their lowest level in more than 150 years, with the idea of marrying falling out of favour among the young.
Only four in ten brides were under 30 in England and Wales in 2015, the Office for National Statistics revealed and of couples who do get hitched, nearly nine in ten lived together beforehand.
Commentators say a generation of women face growing pressure as they try to maintain careers, pay mortgages, marry and raise children in their thirties and forties.
ONS figures show there was a fall of 3.4 per cent on the previous year.
The marriage rate – the number of people who wed among those available to do so – was the lowest since matrimony records were first collected in 1862.
Out of every 1,000 unwed men, 21.7 married – a quarter of the level in 1972, when marriage was at the height of its popularity.
Older couples, however, are marrying more frequently.
