The Telegraph and The Times quote Sarah Jane Boon on divorce rates falling to the lowest level in decades according to the latest figures released by the ONS
Divorces have hit their lowest levels since 1971 despite the introduction of new “no fault” laws, official data has revealed.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show there were 80,057 divorces granted in England and Wales in 2022, marking an almost 30 per cent decrease compared with the 113,505 granted in 2021.
Sarah Jane Boon, Family Partner, comments for The Telegraph:
“Today’s figures are surprising given that 2022 was the year that marked the introduction of the long-awaited no-fault divorce.
"The new law allowed couples to divorce without placing “fault” on one party (or needing to have lived separately for two years) so it was widely thought amongst family law professionals that we’d see a significant jump in divorce enquiries and applications.
"One reason for the decline could be the unexpected jump we saw in 2021, which was attributed to a backlog of divorces being processed following the disruption to family court administration during the height of the pandemic the previous year.
"Financial challenges related to the start of the cost-of-living crisis is also a likely contributor to the fall in divorce rates, as many couples may have considered there were economic benefits of staying together."
