Teenagers still wedded to idea of marriage

More than three out of four youngsters aged 14 to 17 said it was one of their key aspirations and that marriage was not the same as living together, according to the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ).

The right-wing think tank is calling for teaching on marriage and commitment to be part of the revised sex education curriculum. The guidance will be updated for the first time in 20 years in the spring, with sex education lessons becoming compulsory, and campaigners fear that the emphasis on life-long commitment will be lost.

While the desire for marriage remains strong, statistics suggest many teenagers will never realise their ambition. The last census found that more than a third of people are not or have never been married, an increase of three percentage points on ten years ago. The number of weddings taking place each year is at a historic low. The Marriage Foundation predicts that on current trends half of today’s 20-year-olds will ever marry.

Read here