London: Indian-origin couples are more likely to opt for marriage than other nationalities in Britain, according to a report which said weddings seemed to be on the decline in the country. Nearly 85 per cent of Indian-origin couples were recorded as married, forming the higher end of the 2011 Census analysis by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). Overall, marriage seemed to be on the decline in Britain as the proportion of families with a couple who had tied the knot falling from 70 per cent in 2001 to 65 per cent in 2011. "High proportions of married couple families may reflect cultural attitudes towards family structures and marriage in the population and high proportion of cohabiting families may reflect the age structure of populations from different countries of birth," the ONS report explained.
"High proportions of lone-parent families may reflect reasons for migration (such as conflict in the country of birth) and arrival profiles as populations that have been in the UK longer have had more time for partnership breakdown," the ONS added. While South Asia in general reflected a strong bend towards marriages, with Sri Lankans at 84 per cent and Pakistanis at 80 per cent likelihood of married couple families, the least likely to marry groups emerged as Somali-born at 35 per cent and Lithuanians at 39 per cent. In contrast, Just 3 per cent of families from India and Pakistan were found to be cohabiting.
The latest research, which was aimed at studying 'Family Types in England and Wales', shows that there are 15.8 million households living in the country, with nine in 10 of them comprising of just one family. While almost two thirds (65 per cent) were married, the proportion with cohabiting couples and lone parent families rose in the decade from 2011. The ONS said that just over a third of foreign families were born in the Middle East and Asia (36 per cent), with the two largest countries of birth, India and Pakistan, accounting for more than half (52 per cent) from this region. Among people born in the UK, 65 per cent of couples were married, ranked 21 out of 35 countries.
