A dramatic “marriage gap” has opened up between rich and poor couples, with the wealthy four times more likely to tie the knot than those on low incomes.
Almost 90 per cent of mothers with young children in households earning over £45,000 are married, compared with fewer than one in four with incomes under £14,000, research found.
The gap has opened up since the 1970s, when marriage rates were at about 90 per cent for both groups.
Research carried out by the Marriage Foundation also found that middle earners on between £21,000 and £30,000 are increasingly turning their backs on marriage. The vast majority (84 per cent) were still marrying in 1994, but only 59 per cent were married in 2012.
The trend is significant because couples with children who cohabit are far more likely to break up than those who marry, previous research has suggested. Cohabiting couples make up only 19 per cent of parents but half of all family breakdowns.
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Harry Benson, research director at the Marriage Foundation, said it was a huge concern that marriage was fast becoming a privilege of the rich.
“Our previous research has shown that those who marry have a far greater chance of survival as a couple than those who cohabit. Ninety-three per cent of parents who are still together when their children complete their GCSEs are married,” he said
“The drop in marriage rates amongst the poor is causing a huge rise in family break-up for the most disadvantaged.”