Married couples are now in the minority as number of single and divorced people soars

Most over-16s are now single, divorced or widowed, figures from the Office for National Statistics indicate.

In 2006, the last year for which details are available, there were 236,980 weddings in England and Wales – the lowest number since 1895.

It was also the lowest proportion of marriages compared to the population since counting began in the mid-Victorian era.

Cohabiting partners: Modern couples are increasingly choosing to live together without marrying such as celebrities Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt

The ONS report yesterday said: 'The number of people available to marry has been increasing but the number choosing to marry has been declining.'

The minority status of married couples follows years of falling numbers of weddings.

It comes after the removal of tax advantages once extended to married couples and the slanting of the benefit system so that single people get higher state handouts than couples.

Millions of young people now choose to live together as cohabiting partners rather than to marry.

Robert Whelan, of the Civitas think-tank, said: 'There is no sign of an end to the trend for fewer marriages. We are looking at a future in which fewer and fewer people will live as married couples.

'All the consequences will be seen in terms of poorer health, lower incomes, more benefit dependency, increased drug and alcohol abuse and growing crime and anti-social behaviour.

'Unfortunately no one in government seems to care enough to do anything about it.'

Falling figures: Married couples are now in the minority for the first time as more and more young people reject the institution

The ONS figures showed that in 2005 the number of married people in the adult population fell to 50.3 per cent.

At the steady rate of decline recorded since 1997, the number of married couples would have fallen below half in 2006.

In 1995 married couples made up 56.2 per cent of the population.

The total number of married people has since been dropping by between 150,000 and 100,000 a year. The latest figures show that in 2005 there were 43.2million over-16s, of whom 21.7million were married.

There were 14.2million single people, including cohabitees estimated at 4million. There were also 4million divorcees and 3.3million widows and widowers.

Just married: Young couples like recently-married Coleen McLoughlin and Wayne Rooney are in the minority according to official figures

Only 33 per cent of grooms are aged under 30, compared with 50 per cent in 1995. Among brides, 45 per cent are under 30 against 61 per cent in 1995.

Projections produced by the ONS have said that by 2031 only 40 per cent of women will have married, and 46 per cent of men.

Whitehall has backed down over a plan to ask everyone how much they earn in the next census.

In a trial run of a proposed census form, volunteers were asked to indicate their income. Six out of ten who said they were unhappy with the form complained over the income question. The ONS 'recommended that income is not included in the 2011 census questionnaire'.

1,000 MEN IN THE 100 CLUB

The number of men aged over 100 has topped 1,000 for the first time, the ONS said yesterday.

It said that more males in England and Wales are reaching very old age because of health improvements and the fact that the latest crop of centenarians were too young to have been plunged into the horrors of the First World War.

Men's life expectancy is increasing more quickly than that of women, it added.

An analysis published in the ONS journal Population Trends said there are now more than a million people aged over 85.

HAPPY WITH THE AGE GAP

An age gap between a bride and groom no longer makes divorce more likely.

ONS statisticians examined records to check whether a big age difference between a couple made the marriage less likely to last.

They found that a ten-year gap when a groom was aged over 30 meant a marriage in the early 1960s had a higher chance of ending badly.

But since then younger brides and older grooms – and vice versa – have been more likely to stick together. However marrying couples are tending to be closer together in age.