The average marriage ending in divorce in England and Wales lasted 13 years in 2025, compared with 8.9 years in 1985, according to the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS). Economic pressures, changes in family law and shifting social attitudes appear to be linked to the trend, although experts caution that the data alone do not explain it.
Recent figures suggest that the decision to end a marriage is often not taken immediately, even when a couple has already concluded that the relationship cannot continue.
Average duration before divorce
According to the ONS, the average length of a marriage before divorce rose to 13 years in 2025, up from 12.7 years in 2023 and significantly higher than the 8.9 years recorded in 1985.
Fewer divorces in the first decade
The proportion of couples divorcing within the first ten years of marriage has also fallen markedly. Of couples married in 2015, an estimated 16.3% had divorced by their tenth anniversary. For those married in 1995, the equivalent figure was 24.7%.
The data do not in themselves show why this change is happening. Experts are, however, examining a range of economic, social and legal factors that may explain the trend.
The cost of separation
One of the main factors is the financial cost of setting up two separate households.
Professor Emma Hitchings of the University of Bristol Law School notes that divorce may have become legally easier, but splitting one household into two remains difficult.
Rising living costs, mortgage rates, tax burdens, childcare costs and school fees create a complex financial environment for those considering separation.
The longer a marriage lasts, the more the spouses' finances may have become intertwined, making it even more complicated to separate them.
Restrictions on legal aid
This is compounded by restrictions on legal aid for many private family law proceedings in England and Wales. For many couples, therefore, the question is not only whether they want to separate, but whether they can realistically afford life after separation.
Uncertainty and family life
Beyond money and legislation, social conditions also appear to play a role.
Sociologist Julia Carter argues that the broader uncertainty characterising the present era may be influencing couples' decisions.
Even when a marriage is not considered ideal, some people may hesitate to add another source of uncertainty to their lives. The issue becomes more complex when there are children, as the break-up of a household means changes to housing, finances and the daily life of the whole family.
Changing circumstances for women
Ms Carter also links the trend to changing attitudes towards women. She points out that women still make up the majority of those who initiate divorce proceedings. The delay in divorces may therefore also reflect changes in the circumstances under which women decide to leave a marriage.
Cohabitation before marriage
A further explanation concerns the rise in cohabitation before marriage. According to demographer Brienna Perelli-Harris, more than 90% of people in Britain live together before marrying.
This may have turned marriage into a more selective institution. Couples can live together and find out whether their relationship works before marrying, so those who do eventually marry may already be more stable as couples.
In this sense, the fall in divorces in the early years of marriage does not necessarily mean that people are staying in troubled relationships longer than in the past. It may also mean that a greater share of relationships that would not have worked out never reach marriage in the first place.
Trends in the US and Europe
The trend is not limited to Britain. In the United States, according to the Pew Research Center, the average length of marriages ending in divorce rose from 10 years in 2008 to 12 years in 2023.
A similar pattern is recorded in European countries. In Germany, the average length of marriages ending in divorce was 14.6 years in 2025, while in the Netherlands it reached 14.7 years. In Belgium, the average was 12.03 years in 2024.
These figures are not fully comparable, as each country collects and presents divorce data differently. They do, however, indicate that longer marriages before divorce are not an exclusively British development.
Same-sex marriages
Data on same-sex couples add a further dimension. In 2025, the average length of same-sex marriages ending in divorce was 7.5 years for male couples and 6.6 years for female couples.
These figures require careful interpretation, however, as same-sex marriage was introduced in England and Wales only in 2014.
No single explanation
Overall, experts stress that there is no single explanation for the trend. Financial pressure, the housing crisis, the cost of raising children, changes in legislation, the pandemic, cohabitation before marriage and general social uncertainty may all be at work at the same time.
As Greg Seeley of the ONS points out, until more research is carried out, these explanations remain hypotheses. What is clearly recorded, however, is the change in duration itself, which shows that the decision to end a marriage is being taken in an increasingly complex economic, legal and social environment.
Source: The Guardian
