Much of the longer term trend data about marriage and cohabitation in the GHS refers to women aged 18 to 49. Between 1979 and 2000, the proportion of women aged 18 to 49 who were married declined from nearly three quarters (74%) to just over a half (51%). In contrast, over the same period, the proportion of single women in this age group almost doubled from 18% to 35%.

Among single women aged 18 to 49, the proportion who were cohabiting at the time of interview almost quadrupled, from less than one in ten (8%) in 1979 to almost one in three (31%) in 1998 but there was no further change to 2000. The proportion of divorced women who were cohabiting rose from one in five (20%) in 1979 to over a third (35%) in 2000.

Among both men and women aged 16 to 59 reported past cohabitations which did not end in marriage showed an increase over time. Among men currently aged 16 to 59, 2% reported starting such a cohabitation in the 1960s. In the 1970s this figure was 12% compared to 37% in the 1980s and 47% in the 1990s. The equivalent figures for women were 1%, 10%, 41% and 47%.

See Chapter 5