by Obianuju Mbah, Christian Today
A new report released by the Marriage Foundation has called for urgent policy changes by the government to address what it describes as a “calamitous” marriage gap of 51 per cent between wealthy and low-income couples.
The report underscores the drastic decline in marriage rates among low-income couples. Since 1972, marriage rates have dropped by 78 per cent among men and 73 per cent among women.
Marriage remains common among wealthier families, widening the divide between socio-economic groups.
“What has been almost completely overlooked and ignored in discussion of the trend away from marriage … is the presence of a marriage gap between rich and poor,” the report states.
“Quite simply, marriage is still the norm among the richest families [but] is increasingly the exception among the poorest families.”
According to data first documented by the think tank in 2015, 87% of parents with children under five in the highest income quintile were married, in contrast to just 24% in the lowest income quintile.
The report, using figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), reveals that this gap has significantly broadened over the past decade, partly due to economic pressures and social disruptions caused by COVID-19 restrictions.