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There is a higher concentration of divorced people in coastal towns than other parts of England and Wales according to a report from the Office for National Statistics. The local authority with the greatest percentage of divorcees was Blackpool where 13.1 per cent of the population are divorced. Hastings was second with 12.8 per cent and Torbay third with 12.2 per cent. Weymouth and Portland, Thanet, the Isle of Wight, Gosport, Eastbourne, Great Yarmouth and Worthing made up the top ten meaning that, with the exception of Blackpool and Great Yarmouth, the locations with the highest number of divorced people per capita are all coastal towns located in the South of England. The study’s authors argued that this pattern could be attributed to the lower costs of both housing and living within these areas, claiming that this would appeal to individuals of limited economic means such as those in receipt of a single income. Additionally, Ruth Sutherland of relationship charity Relate has posited that there may be a link between this and the growing number of people ending their marriage later in life, noting that a large number of people move to the cost to retire and that this can put a strain on relationships. Ms Sutherland also observes that economic hardship is one of the main causes of marital discord and that this could be having a more profound effect on married couples living within these areas. The ONS also discovered that, for the first time, married couples are now in the minority, with 51 per cent of people classified as single, widowed, divorce or currently cohabiting. The census also showed that 24 per cent of women and just 20 per cent of men under the age of 40 were married, whilst the total number of people living in either England or Wales that have never married currently stands at 15.7 million. These changes have been attributed to the fact that fewer people are now choosing to marry along with changing social attitudes regarding different living arrangements such as house-sharing, cohabitation and living alone.