Church Leaders Fear Marriage Is Under Growing Threat

Church and family groups expressed fear for children growing up in broken homes yesterday after figures revealed a soaring divorce rate, a fall in the number of marriages and the highest ever number of children born out of wedlock.

The introduction of “quickie” divorce laws led to a 19 per cent rise in the number of divorces last year, to more than 13,000.
Lower your bills. Advert for U-Switch Meanwhile, the number of people marrying fell by three per cent and the proportion of children born to unmarried parents peaked at 48 per cent.

Church and family groups said the figures reflected an “unhealthy society” that was having an increasingly negative effect on children. However, the Executive insisted the sudden rise in divorce was solely due to the law change and insisted the institution of marriage remained safe.

The figures, released yesterday by Duncan McNiven, the registrar general, showed 13,013 people divorced last year, the highest number in more than a decade. He attributed the increase to “quickie divorce” laws, introduced last spring,

which halved the time couples need to wait for approval of an uncontested divorce from two years to one. The waiting time for a contested divorce has dropped from five years to two.

Mr McNiven said: “We cannot predict future divorce numbers. But I would expect the number of divorces to fall once this temporary surge is past.”

In comparison to the ten-year high in divorce rates, the number of marriages was the fifth lowest since Victorian times, at 29,896.

Joseph Devine, the bishop of Motherwell, said the figures showed a disintegration of the family. “It is a sign of the times, and socially unhealthy times at that,” he said. “Clearly, recent legislation making divorce easier and quicker has had an impact. But so long as government fails to attach the importance it should to the institutions of marriage and the traditional family, society, and children in particular, will pay the price.”

Most divorces are by couples aged between 35 and 45 and happen after five to ten years of marriage. The main reason is the couple living apart for some years, followed by behaviour, adultery and desertion.

Religious groups warned the laws would lead to an increase in the rate of couples separating. Morag Mylne, convener of the Church of Scotland church and society council, said a breakdown in the sanctity of marriage would damage society. “If marriage is not embraced and recognised, that is something that naturally concerns the Church and should concern all of society,” she said.

The Catholic Church warned children could be damaged by the rise in divorce. A spokesman added: “The latest figures reveal an alarming change in the social landscape. They show half of Scotland’s children are born outside the stability of marriage. Society needs to ask itself if this is wise, given that all the indicators show children do better in terms of health, education and employment prospects when brought up in a stable family environment.”

Last year the proportion of children born to unmarried parents rose to a record 47.7 per cent at 26,584 children.

Daniel Boucher, of Christian Group Care, feared Scotland would be one of the few countries in Europe with more than half of children born out of wedlock. “Unless government takes proper steps to invest in marriage, the rate will go over 50 per cent and the state will reap the consequences in 10 to 15 years’ time.”

The Executive insisted the figures reflected the backlog of couples who were able to divorce more quickly when the new laws came in, rather than more failing marriages. A spokesman insisted marriage was being supported by current government reforms.

He said: “Nothing in the family law reforms undermines the place of marriage in our society – and neither has divorce become easy. But we now have laws that minimise conflict and the impact on children when family relationships break down.”

Mike Reid, acting director of Family Mediation Scotland, has seen an increase in the number of couples coming in since the change in the law, which he said increased support for families wanting to resolve child custody and other issues out of court.