UK wedlock tragedy
Over half the babies born to British women in 2007 were born outside of marriage, according to new figures. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has released figures which show that marriage among Britons is now at its lowest level since records began and that a majority of babies born to British women are born out of wedlock.
ONS figures reveal that there has been a steady decline in marriage among Britons since the 1970s, when less than one in ten children were born outside of marriage. In the 1950s the figure was one in twenty.
It is expected that by 2012 over half the births in the UK will be outside marriage. Although the majority of British women already have their children outside wedlock, among ethnic Pakistani and Indian women in the UK the figure is very different. Nearly all Pakistani women and 80% of Indian women have their children within marriage.
