Happy Valentine’s Day from McCrindle

While many think the tradition of marriage in Australia is declining, it is interesting to note that the number of marriages in Australia has been rising for more than a decade, now exceeding around 120,000. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we decided to further investigate some other facts about love and marriage in Australia.

Median age of marriage on the rise

The median age at marriage for males is 29.9 years, while for females it is 28.3 years, an increase of 0.1 years since 2013. Median age at marriage has remained stable for both males and females in recent years.

For both males and females in 2014, the highest age–specific marriage rates were for people between 25–29 years of age, with 41.4 marriages per 1,000 males and 48.9 marriages per 1,000 females.

Do half of all marriages in Australia end in divorce?

As of 2014, the number of marriages in Australia (121,197) was 9% more than the number of marriages 10 years ago. This accounted for a rate of 5.2 marriages per 1000 individuals however, over the same decade, the number of divorces in 2014 (46,498) declined by 4% since 1994, with only 2.0 divorces per 1000 individuals.

Therefore, the current divorce rate is just 38.4% of the current marriage rate and the divorce rate is falling faster than the marriage rate. Additionally, the length of those marriages that end is increasing, with the median duration to divorce being extended to 12 years compared to just 10.9-years in 1994.

Consequently, based on this analysis, it is not the case that half of all marriages end in divorce, but based on comparing national marriage and divorce rates, it can be estimated that around 1 in 3 marriages will end in divorce.

Fun facts about Valentine’s Day

  • Facebook says last year more than 75,000 Australians updated their relationship in the days that followed Valentine’s Day as singles connected up and couples committed to each other for life.
  • About 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged each year. This makes it the second largest seasonal card sending time of the year (after Christmas).
  • 73 percent of people who buy flowers for Valentine’s Day are men, while only 27 percent are women.
  • Valentine’s Day is the most popular non/holiday non-weekend day of the year on which Australians marry (exceeding 800 weddings) (ABS Cat 3310.0)
  • Valentine’s Day is a lead up to what in Australia has become the most popular month in which to get married, March, although Spring (September, October and November) is still the most popular season (ABS Cat 3310.0)


Happy Valentine’s Day from McCrindle!



 


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