New study over past 50 years reveals society's shifts in terms of marriage and divorce.
The Independent Newspaper reports on census data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which gathered census data between 1961 and 2011 in England and Wales.
The data shows that fewer people are getting married than they were 50 years ago. However, many more couples are getting divorced than previously, measured over the same time period.
In 1961, the census found that 68 per cent of people aged 16 and over were married, while just 0.8 per cent were divorced.
In 2011, however, 49 per cent of people aged 16 years and over were found to be married or in a same-sex civil partnership, and nine per cent were either divorced or in a legally dissolved civil partnership.