If popular reports and figures are anything to go by, it seems as though splitting up has been hard to do for an increasing number of Brits. With the biggest decrease in divorce since 1971, the data set from the Office of National Statistics for 2022 reveals a thirty percent drop compared to the previous year. Here’s a closer look at which of our towns and cities top the list when it comes to marital breakdown.
The UK’s divorce capital
Almost half of UK marriages end in divorce, but some areas appear to be more divorce-prone than others. The South East of the UK appears to have a number of divorce hotspots, with the likes of Hastings, Eastbourne and Worthing all featuring at the top end of the list, but which took the illustrious title of the UK’s divorce capital?
Norwich
Usually noted for its stunning cathedral, a 2023 Yahoo! news report shows that Norwich tops the list of UK cities for the number of divorces, with 12.8% of the population having chosen to legally end their marriage.
Hastings
A little way behind Norwich, the coastal town famed for its legendary battle in 1066 is now carving out a name for itself as one of the UK’s top towns for calling time on your marriage, with 12.1% of its population having been through a divorce.
Blackpool
In joint second place with Hastings, and continuing the coastal theme, albeit in a break from the South East, the population of Blackpool also recorded a figure of 12.1% of its population being divorced.
Tough love for coastal towns
Although there doesn’t seem to be any extreme anomalies, there are some subtle themes running through the divorce figures. As mentioned previously, towns and cities in the South East featured quite strongly, with Eastbourne and Worthing not far from the top of the list with 11.7% and 11.1% of the population getting a divorce, respectively.
On a wider scale, seaside towns continue to feature more heavily at the wrong end of the divorce league table, and Britain’s southernmost county, was representative of this trend, with 11% of Cornwall’s population having brought their marriage to an end.
A downward trend
The reduction in the number of divorces taking place in the UK can be potentially explained by a number of factors. Firstly, it appears that fewer people are actually deciding to get married, and of course, if you’re not married, there can be no divorce. Changing societal attitudes towards relationships has seen a consistent increase in couples choosing to live together, without getting married, also known as cohabiting.
Expense spared?
Another possible explanation for the general decrease in the divorce rate is that the financial struggles experienced by many people following the fallout from the Covid Pandemic, Brexit and the current cost of living crisis may have discouraged couples from choosing to go down the marriage route, given that even simple wedding ceremonies can run into thousands of pounds.
The removal of blame
With some commentators believing there is now an easier route to divorce with the emergence of the ‘no-fault’ divorce introduced in 2022, it remains to be seen if there will be new UK regions with higher divorce rates in the coming years.
One thing that will remain the same though is the necessity to seek proper, professional legal advice from a family law specialist for those who are seriously considering instigating divorce proceedings.