religious marriage is in long-term decline

To follow up on the numbers discussed earlier showing a drop in marriage in the UK, here's the second part of the story that's rarely, if ever, mentioned. Religious marriage is in long-term decline .

Religious ceremonies in England and Wales have dropped steadily, from 179,459 in 1981 to 85,870 in 2002. Over that same time period, the number of civil ceremonies have also decreased - from 172,514 to 168,530 - but nowhere nearly as severly. The main drop in marriage is due to a drop in religious ceremonies - softened by a choice of secular ceremonies in their place (figures taken from here).

To go into a little more detail, Church of England ceremonies have dropped from 118,435 to 58,710 and Catholic marriages have dropped from 26,097 to 9,980. Suddenly, the panic over the sanctity of marriage becomes a little clearer: both congregations are losing the ability to dictate terms for adult, long-term relationships.

Since 1992, there have been more civil than religious ceremonies and the gap is widening. In 2005, 65% of marriages were conducted through civil ceremonies, and there's no sign that this trend will do anything other than continue.