New data from the ONS has shown that Islington is the “unmarried” capital of England and Wales.
The North London Borough was shown to be awash with singletons, more than 60 per cent of Islington residents had never married. All of the other top five unmarried areas where also in London:
- Islington (59.9%)
- Lambeth (58.4%)
- Hackney (57.5%)
- Hammersmith and Fulham (55.9%)
- Tower Hamlets (55.3%)
The new data showed that in 2011, more than 15.7 million adults (35% of those aged 16 and over) in England and Wales had never been married.
This represents a 5% rise in the proportion of unmarried adults from 2001 when only 12.5 million (30%) adults have never been married.
The reasons for the increase are not clear, however, the researchers at the Office of National Statistics have suggested that the rise in the single population could be due to a number of factors.
Possible causes include the proportional decline in marriage since the 1970s and the “increased social acceptability” of remaining single or cohabiting (either never marrying or not remarrying following divorce or widowhood).
The statistics collected by the ONS also show the areas in the country which have the lowest percentage of unmarried people. The five local authorities identified as having the lowest proportions of residents who have never married are as follows:
- East Dorset (21.0%)
- East Devon (23.7%)
- North Kesteven (23.7%)
- Christchurch South (24.0%)
- Northamptonshire (24.2%)
