PRESS RELEASE: Marriage rates slump. Saying I-Do, no longer a Must Do.

November 27th 2018
For immediate release
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the latest figures on the number of marriages in Australia on the 27th of November which showed that the number of marriages has decreased from 118,401 in 2016 to 112,954 in 2017.
The Australian Bridal Industry Academy (ABIA) which has been monitoring the wedding industry for the past 22 years said that it was no surprise that the number of marriages has fallen again this year.

The Chairman of ABIA, Mr John O’ Meara said “ the number of marriages and weddings as a percentage of the population has been in decline for almost three generations, from 8.3% in Granma’s day (Mid 1960’s), to 7.2% in Mums day (Mid 1980’s) to 4.6% per thousand of population today”. He said, that even though the population had increased from 12 million in the mid 60’s to 25 million today, the number of marriages has barely changed.
He said that there were almost 100,000 marriages per year in the 60’s from a population of 12 million, compared to just over 110,000 marriages a year from a population of 25 million today. If the same percentage of the population got married today as in the 1960’s there would potentially be in excess of over 210,000 marriages per year in Australia.

O’ Meara went on to say that the decline in the institution of marriage has been driven by a number of factors.
In the past (Grandma’s Day: 1960’s) there were three main drivers of marriage, being the Church, the Law and Society.

The Church said it was a sin to cohabit before marriage; today 80% of all couples cohabit before marriage with the average wedding couple now living together up to 8 years before marriage.
The Law said that a woman was not entitled to her partner’s assets unless she could produce a Marriage Certificate, it even went further that when the woman signed the Marriage Certificate she forfeited ownership of any property to her new husband. Today, in most States a couple only need to cohabit continuously for 2 years or more before they have a legal claim on the other partner’s property.
Society looked down on a couple who cohabited before marriage and called their children “illegitimate”. Today, nobody cares if you have been married and divorced, once, twice or three times.

By the time Mum got married (1980’s) the marriage landscape had changed considerably.
The release of the contraceptive pill (1961) had now given women control over their own reproductive organs
and the age of Free Love, No War, Burn the Bra had arrived and women were now breaking the “Glass Ceiling”.
Women were now furthering higher education and engaging in the traditionally dominated male professions as well as the new professions of computer related careers, thereby eliminating the need to rely on a husband for their future financial security, which today has resulted in the average marriage age of a woman going from 21 years in Grandmas day to almost 30 years for today’s bride.

In Grandmas day, the Church, the Law and Society were the 3 main drivers of marriage and as a consequence; weddings.
Today the 3 main drivers of weddings and as a consequence; Marriage are Fantasy, Family and Finances, he stated that Fantasy and Finances have never made good bed-fellows, therefore many couples had put off Marriage due to the cost of a wedding and it is not unusual for a couple to state that they cannot afford to get married. The irony of this is, it has never been more affordable to get married; all they have to do is pop down to the Registry Office, pay a couple of hundred dollars each, a couple of witness and a couple of I-Do I-Do’s and your married, all for less than a day’s wages each.
Therefore the landscape had done a complete 360, where marriage was the driver of weddings back in Grandmas day to Weddings been the driver of Marriage for her Granddaughter.

O’ Meara went onto say that wedding rather than marriage affordably has not been the only contributor to the decline in the marriage rate. Many couples now leave university with crippling Hecs debts and those who have lived in a de-facto relationship and had children are also saddled with exorbitant child care exacerbated by the enormous cost of housing.
Having a spare twenty, forty or fifty thousand dollars to spend on a wedding is something that is no longer seen as a priority.
The Academy has noticed that the rich are getting richer and the poor getting poorer which has changed the wedding landscape over the years. The number of couples spending in excess of $60,000 has increased over the past 5 years while the popularity of Pop Up Weddings has also gained traction, whereby a couple can host a small wedding ceremony for close family and friends for less than $3,000. According to the ABIA and two other leading industry authorities, the average cost of a wedding has been static for almost five years at approximately $32,000 with an average of 100 guests.###

The Australian Bridal Industry Academy has been ranking, rating and reviewing wedding vendors since 1997 and host the Annual Bridal Industry Awards across each of the 5 mainland States of Australia. Over 25,000 newlywed couples determine the finalists and winners of the ABIA award by rating each of their wedding vendors on ABIA’s 4 Pillars of Perfection, being quality of product, quality of service, value for money and attitude of staff.
This year the Academy celebrates the 22nd NSW ABIA awards in December 2018 at Dockside Darling Harbour.
For further information or interviews contact:
John O’Meara|
Chairman
Australian Bridal Industry Academy
Tel: 07 55715550
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.abia.com.au