Terence Blacker: Is it so terrible that marriage is in decline? Friday, 28 March 2008
Like a tired old couple nagging wearily away at one another, politicians and the media have been bickering over the great marriage crisis exposed by the Office of National Statistics. In 2005, the number getting married fell by nine per cent from the previous year; 2006 saw another significant fall, this time of four per cent. The national marriage rate, according to the OFT, is now at its lowest level since 1862.
For members of the think-tanks which exist to fret about such things, it is a terrible state of affairs for which the Government is entirely responsible. Labour is "effectively overseeing the death of marriage by killing it off", Jill Kirby of the Centre for Policy Studies has announced.
At first glance, the verdict seems a little harsh. Few governments of recent years have promoted family values more ardently by example. Unlike the previous two Conservative prime ministers – one a divorcée, the other an adulterer – Blair and Brown have been proactively uxorious while in power. Both have produced children. Blair's potency as a husband was publicly put on record by his wife. Brown's progression from bachelor to contented family man has been the perfect advertisement for marriage.
But, according to the think-tankers and the Tories, the smug marrieds in power have also been doing terrible things to the institution. They have failed to give financial incentives to married couples. In official documents, phrases like "spouse" and "marriage" are being replaced by more neutral terms. Politicians are said to be afraid to speak up for married life out of fear of offending that fearsome group of voters, the singles. ......(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/terence-blacker/terence-blacker-is-it-so-terrible-that-marriage-is-in-decline-801708.html