Royal Wedding Weekend in Chichester

What a fantastic Royal Wedding weekend we have just had in

Chichester!!

As we all know very well this weekend saw the Royal couple

tie the knot on their marriage and Chichester celebrated in style. There were

11 street parties in and around Chichester and great events such as the

Fontwell Race Course Royal Wedding Race Night. On top of all this, Frank and

Marjorie Burden, who were born and bred in Chichester, celebrated their

platinum wedding anniversary this weekend - that’s 70 years!!

With all these marriage celebrations going on and with the

whole nation seeming to really relish the joy of weddings it begs the question

to me: why is the rate of marriages in England and Wales decreasing so

rapidly?!

On a national scale, the provisional number of marriages in

England and Wales in 2009 was 231,490 which was the lowest since 1895 when the

population was little more than half its present level. As we look closer to

home, it seems like Chichester is holding on to the tradition of marriage just

slightly more than the rest of the nation. Out of 376 regions in 2001, relative

to population, Chichester was 282nd in having the most people never

married and 134th in having the most married people. Clearly then

Chichester is above average in the importance it gives to marriage.

This gives me slight encouragement about our city but I

personally still don’t like the look of the facts and I would imagine that

Chichester is most likely still decreasing its marriage rate along with the

rest of the country. My guess for the reasons behind these stats are the people

just don’t see the point anymore. If we can just live with our partners and

have a family together then what is the need for marriage? Others blame it on

the Labour Party for giving better benefits to parents who aren’t married.

I personally am strongly in favour of keeping the tradition

of weddings and marriages and I feel the joys of this weekend (both Will and

Kate and Frank and Marjorie!) should show how positive a healthy marriage can

be. I eagerly await the results of the recent census to find out the latest on

how marriages are doing in our nation. That’s my opinion then and it is

supported by the fact that I myself am getting married this summer and I

absolutely cannot wait. Of course I am really excited about the wedding but I am

MUCH more excited about the marriage!

What is your opinion on the decrease of marriages in our

nation? Perhaps you are one who isn’t that interested in the idea of a marriage

and you don’t see the point? Maybe, like me, you grieve over these statistics and

would love to see marriages on the up again? Feel free to let us know whatever

you think! 

Photo thanks to /kallu on flickr!