This can be easily explained by the pandemic. However, the number of marriages and civil unions has dropped substantially since its peak in 1971.
The report released on Wednesday, also shows that divorces are at the lowest they have ever been, since the passing of the Family Proceedings Act in 1980. This bill allowed for the dissolution of marriage on the grounds of “irreconcilable differences”.
One of the requirements of this is to have two years of separation, so because of this we will not yet know the effects the pandemic has had on the divorce rate.
Not only are Kiwis getting married less, but we are also getting married at an older age. The median age for people in first marriages is 29.6 years for women and 30.7 years for men compared to 1971 with 20.8 and 29.3 respectively.
Canterbury University Head of Consulting Statistics Unit Elena Moltchanova, says that one could posit that people who marry right out of high school tend to grow out of each other because their interests and life perspectives change a lot in the decade following graduation.
“Perhaps greater age at marriage means on average less such new young marriages and the old young marriages have divorced already.”
This would mean the still existing marriages are on average older people with clearer goals and expectations, making them stronger marriages.
In 2021 4,842 children (under 17’s) had parents who were granted a divorce, a drop from 6,909 in 2011 and 8,748 in 2001.
