Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
450
60%
Divorce rate
400
50%
350
300
40%
250
Number of marriages
30%
200
150
20%
100
10%
50
0
0%
Figure 3.2
Number of marriages and divorce rate, 1986-2009 (2009 figures are based on
that year's first three quarters only).
Source
:
Future Foundation
the UK, only 3% of non-resident fathers never see their children, although a
further 18% have effectively no contact, since they meet their children less
than once a year.
An ageing society
Life expectancy in the UK in 2011 stood at 78.4 years for men and 82.6
years for women. This was a 10-year increase for both men and women
since 1950 (Yeoman, 2012). Society is rapidly ageing; by 2023, the over-75s
will constitute over a tenth of the population (Office of National Statistics,
2010b). This has several major implications for the family. Firstly, the family
will become increasingly multigenerational as grandparents survive into an
older age. This greatly contrasts with the beginning of the century, when
the average woman would have died not long after her last child reached
15. Secondly, longevity has the potential to create a false sense of security
in relation to postponing childbirth; while women in their thirties are far
from being considered 'middle aged', those approaching their thirties may
