Older gay couples shun marriage as the average age for a civil partnership to be recorded passes 50
by Steve Doughty, Mailonline:
Pensioners are the most likely people to form same-sex civil partnerships, according to an official breakdown yesterday.
While gay couples are increasingly turning to same-sex marriage to cement their relationships, an older generation prefers to stick to the older-established civil partnership system, it found.
Last year the average age at which a gay or lesbian couple recorded a civil partnership was nearly 50, around a decade later in life than in 2013, the last year before David Cameron’s law opening marriage to same-sex partners came into operation.
People over 65 were more likely to register a partnership than those in age groups below pension age, the figures collected by the Office for National Statistics showed. More than 16 per cent of men forming a civil partnership and nearly 18 per cent of women had reached the age of 65 or older.
The figures, which cover England and Wales, come against a steep decline in partnership numbers following the introduction of same-sex marriage. The trend to stick to partnerships among older couples appears to reflect a suspicion of marriage among well-established middle-aged people, some analysts said.
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