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[quote]Media information: embargo 00.01 am Monday 19 May 2008

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Marriage in modern Britain: out of reach, not out of fashion

A new report from Civitas, 'Second Thoughts on the Family', finds marriage to be more popular than ever - but a luxury beyond the reach of the poor

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Overwhelming majority of Britons want to marry

Defying the idea that marriage is dead, a new Civitas/Ipsos Mori survey of 1,560 young people reveals that the overwhelming majority want to get married:

Marriage: fit for purpose in 21st century Britain

A nationally representative sample of 20-35 year-olds shows that seven in ten want to marry 
Cohabitation has NOT replaced marriage: nearly eight in ten (79 per cent) of those cohabiting want to marry 
The number one reason why young people want to marry is to make a commitment (47 per cent) 
Just two per cent want to marry for tax reasons 
Less than one per cent think that marriage jeopardises equality between men and women. 
Declining marriage rates are seen as a sign of the death of marriage, but the evidence that the majority still want to marry, despite it no longer being socially 'necessary', shows that marriage is in fact more popular than ever. In a secular, liberal society such as 21st century Britain, marriage has become a choice - which research shows most people want to make.

People don't have to marry - they want to

'In the past people had to marry,' comments Anastasia de Waal, author of the report and Head of Family and Education at Civitas, 'today people want to.' However, family patterns shown in the last Census and Millennium Cohort Study reveal that marriage is out of reach for Britain's poorest.

In Second Thoughts on the Family Anastasia de Waal has brought together:

27 interviews with high profile opinion formers, including Cherie Booth, Harriet Harman, Polly Toynbee, Jenni Murray, Esther Rantzen and Fay Weldon 
A nationwide sample of 20-35 year-olds' attitudes to marriage 
An examination of Britain's family trends. 
The report demonstrates a striking relationship between income and family structure and exposes a shocking poverty divide between the marrieds and the non-marrieds: it is the divide between the haves and have-nots. Perversely, Labour is embracing this divide in the name of 'diversity'.

'Diversity' - as enjoyed by the poor

The Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative survey of the families of children born around the year 2000, reveals the stark correlation between economics and family structure in Britain today. 
At the time of birth, 55 per cent of single parents and 43 per cent of cohabiting parents lived in disadvantaged areas compared with 26 per cent of married parents. By contrast, 35 per cent of single parents and 56 per cent of cohabiting parents lived in advantaged areas compared with 68 per cent of married parents.

The 2001 Census also highlights the correlation between poverty and non-marriage, showing that areas in Britain with the highest proportion of cohabiting parents are 'notorious for the economic breakdown of once thriving working-class industries'. By contrast, marriage is concentrated in areas with high numbers of middle-class families. 
[i]contd:[/i][/quote]

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