More do's than don'ts
Every girl spends hours, if not days, dreaming of her wedding
day - the dress, the party, and even the groom. With almost half of
all marriages ending in divorce, however, it seems the perfect
wedding and marriage is doomed before it even begins.
But that all appears to be changing. A recent study by the Office of National Statistics
showed that fewer people in Britain are filing for divorce. In fact
the annual figures show that just 11.9% of marriages are ending in
divorce - that's the lowest figure for 26 years.
But it isn't quite a happily-ever-after just yet. Both men and
women in their late twenties had the highest divorce rates with
26.9 % divorces of all marriages.
Experts are claiming a variety of reasons for the decline in
divorce. The majority are stating that money is the main reason
people are sticking together and giving their marriage another go -
it seems that my dad, who has taken to saying "the credit
crunch is affecting us all" at every possible opportunity, is
for once spot on.
As well as people sticking together, according to the statistics,
fewer youngsters are taking the plunge into marriage, but instead
are waiting until their thirties to say 'I do.'
The celeb lover in me thinks that the world of the young and famous
getting married and divorced ten minutes later is making people
think twice about getting married; suddenly Las Vegas, Elvis and a
little white chapel is not quite so appealing.
What I am finding funniest about the new statistics (even though I
guess no part of divorce should be funny,) is the fact that there
has been a steady increase in divorces in the over 60s - now at a
record high in the UK and USA. The "silver-haired
divorce" as it has been dubbed is increasing because thousands
of older couples are refusing to contemplate years of retirement in
an unhappy marriage.
According to the US Census
Bureau, the number of divorced senior citizens in the US has
risen by more than a third over the past decade to just under 2.2
million. This was the only age group that the divorce rate rose
among both men and women.
Nowadays weddings often mean money just as much as they mean love
and commitment. The average wedding costs around £20,000, with
a divorce costing more, making the whole 'I do' and 'I
don't' process a very expensive one.
But obviously anything that us common folk do, celebrities do
better. In the world of celebrity divorce settlements, the
£25-million split of rock star Phil Collins and his estranged
wife Orianne
Cevey ranks among the largest in the UK.
However, American basketball star Michael Jordan's divorce
settlement with his former wife, Juanita
Vanoy, has rendered the most expensive celebrity divorce
payout ever by Forbes. Vanoy who was married to
Jordan for almost 18 years was awarded an unprecedented settlement
of more than £80 million pounds.
It isn't all 'I don't' though. Experts are now
predicting divorce rates will continue to decline, making happily
ever after look more realistic every day. Maybe that means there is
a prince charming out there for everyone too.
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