Marriage is increasingly the preserve of the rich, with only one in five couples from the poorest backgrounds tying the knot, research has found.
Some 71 per cent of children born into high-earning families in 2022 had parents who were married compared with as few as 20 per cent among the lowest earners.
This means the ‘marriage gap’ between the richest and the poorest has widened to a record 51 per cent, the study from the Marriage Foundation think-tank found.
However, researchers said support for marriage remains consistent among all income groups – suggesting barriers such as the high cost of weddings are preventing the poorest from marrying.
Looking at babies born in 2022, the report found that 71 per cent of parents in the higher income quintile (earning £45,000 or more) were married, compared with 35 per cent of those in the lowest income quintile (earning £14,000 or less), leaving a marriage gap of 36 per cent.
In 1992 the equivalent gap was just 27 per cent.
However, among parents who are ‘not classified’ – taken by researchers to be the lowest earners of all – marriage rates were just 20 per cent, suggesting a 51 per cent gap.
Paul Coleridge, founder of the Marriage Foundation and a former High Court judge, said the new findings were ‘alarming’.
To improve marriage rates among less well-off families, the think-tank suggests scrapping the ‘poorly targeted’ £250 married couples’ allowance and directing this money to the poorest married couples with newborn children.