A new study has forecast almost half of all today’s 20-year-olds will never marry.
The Marriage Foundation, an organisation that champions marriage, released analysis of Office for National Statistics figures on 6 June suggesting that 47 per cent of women and 48 per cent of men aged 20 would stay single.
In 1970, the peak year for marriage, 564,818 men and women aged 25 got married. In 2010, only 56,598 did, a fall of 90 per cent.
Today only five per cent of men and ten per cent of women aged 25 are married, compared to 60 per cent and 80 per cent respectively in 1970.
Surjit Verdi, said: “Every couple will have their own reasons for living together rather than marrying but whether this is a short or long-term option, it is important to remember that couples who cohabit have fewer rights than those who are married or in civil partnerships.
“A living together agreement can protect both parties if their relationship breaks down in the future, covering issues such as sharing the costs of living together and protecting assets or property owned before you lived together or that you jointly acquired.
“It is also important to remember that if cohabiting couples fail to make wills, if one of them dies, under intestacy law the other will be excluded from automatically inheriting anything from them, regardless of how long they have lived together. For more information, please contact our Family Law team.”