Figures from the Office for National Statistics show decrease of 10.6% in divorce rates of opposite-sex couples from 2017 to 2018, with 90,871 divorces in 2018 being the lower figure since 1971.
The Family Court Statistics Quarterly 2018 report from the Ministry of Justice shows that as a result of divorce centres processing a backlog of work last year, the number of petitions increased by 8% in 2018. This puts the numbers more in line with those from 2017. The backlog also led to a five-week increase (to 54.3 weeks) in the average time divorce proceedings took from petition to decree absolute.
The ONS expects this to translate to an increase in completed divorces in 2019.
Among opposite-sex couples the rate fell to 7.5 divorces per 1,000 married men and women from 8.4 in 2017. The ONS says this number, the lowest since 1971 will have been affected by the backlog.
The average duration of marriage of opposite-sex couples who divorced in 2018 was 12.5 years.
The number of divorces of same-sex couples has increased annually since the legalisation of marriages in 2014. There were 428 divorces of this time in 2018, increasing from 338 in 2017, of which three-quarters were female couples.
Statistics for same-sex divorces were first recorded in 2015, and annual increases have been seen annually since then, reflecting the growth of the same-sex married population.
The most common reason for opposite-sex couples’ divorce in 2018 was unreasonable behaviour, accounting for almost half (46.3%) of all decrees absolute granted. 51.9 of wives and 36.8% of husbands petitioned on these grounds. It was also the most common reason among same-sex couples.
Two years separation with consent was the next most common reason cited as grounds for divorce in 2018 accounting for 26.8%, with five years separation accounting for 16.1%.
The majority of the remainder was taken up with adultery (10.1%) while desertion and a combination of two or more grounds accounted for 0.8%.
Family Law Partner Zahra Pabani at Irwin Mitchell said:
“There are two interesting aspects of the latest statistics on divorce: firstly they are not a true reflection of divorce in the UK; secondly they are symptomatic of the challenges family law faces at the moment.
“On the first point, no-fault divorce repeatedly being on and off the legislative table has left divorcing couples in limbo. I’ve had clients say to me, ‘I’m not going to get divorced yet because I’m waiting for no-fault divorce to come in’ – and clearly unhappy couples are biding their time for the divorce rate to be so low. Once no-fault divorce comes in, divorce rates will skyrocket just as they did in the 1970s when new legislation was introduced.
“The ONS itself notes that an administrative backlog is partly to blame for the drop and that rates will most likely be higher next year. The reality is that the courts have suffered through numerous funding cuts, and court employees are increasingly overworked and understaffed – delays are therefore inevitable and until this remedied, will likely skew future statistics.”
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