Our Blogs

The figures may show that the UK’s divorce rate has been on the wane in recent years but, with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) having recently revealed that a divorce was granted every five minutes in England and Wales in 2012, it’s clear that it is by no means uncommon for couples to bring their marriages to a legal end. Unsurprisingly, with the divorce rate having increased by 0.5 per cent in 2012, many commentators are arguing that the recession is behind this rise, with it being claimed that the economic downturn has actually had a delayed effect on the respective countries’ divorce rates. Essentially, couples may have wanted to divorce years ago but, due to increasing living costs and stagnant wages, they were unable to afford to. Now, with economic situation worldwide beginning to improve and consumer confidence growing, such couples are now beginning to feel like they will be able to live on one income and are therefore filing for divorce. The ONS’s report also revealed that almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of all divorces granted were issued to female Petitioners, that couples were most likely to divorce between their fourth and eighth year of marriage and that the average age at which people divorce is 45 for men and 42 for women.