Not Keen to Marry

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 478, 6 October 1928, Page 10

Not Keen to Marry

Superstitions—And a Falling Rate Statistics and Romance IP statistics are accepted as a reliable index of what is to come. New Zealand shortly will be faced with the problem of a falling marriage rate and falling birth figures. Last year’s births were lower than has been the case for ten years, and the marriage rate is dropping relentlessly. Superstitions, although possessing no relation whatever to the general problem, play a significant part in regulating the dates of individual marriages.

In order accurately to ?auge the cause of New Zealanders’ disinclination to marry, the investigations of a sociologist—and possibly those of a psychologist also —would be required, but the Government Statistician, who deals solely in facts and tendencies, tells a disturbing story. He reveals that the marriege-rate in recent years is a long way below the average rate attained prior to the war, and the tendency is for the rate to decline still further. This declining movement is not only noticeable in S'ew Zealand, but is evident in most >ther civilised countries During the period 1904-13 the normal tendency was toward a gradual increase in the marriage-rate, but the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 seriously disturbed this upward movement, and the increasing diminution in the number of males of marriageable age quickly brought the rates to a level never previously approached. Last year 10,478 couples married, these representing 7.62 in a 1,000 of population, a decrease of 202 rrom hose of the previous year.

The superstitions of everyday life are applied with unusual enthusiasm to the wedding day and its consequential glamour. Comparatively few people will approach the altar on a Friday, only 5 per cent, of last year’s marriages being solemnised on that day. Seventeen couples only braved their great venture on the 13th day of the month, the figures for the period revealing an increasing respect for this supposedly unlucky date. Wednesday is still the most popular marrying day. No fewer than 4,354, or 43 per cent., of last year’s marriages took place on that day. The next most popular day was Tuesday, with 1,563, or 15 per cent. Only on six days in the year did marriages on one day exceed 100, and three of those days fell in the Raster period. GETTING THEM YOUNG It is evident that New Zealand gentlemen prefer their brides young. Kleven per cent, of those married last year were under 21. With brides the

most popular marrying ages were 21 (1,191) and 22 (1,056), but bere there is a wide range. One girl was married at the age of 14. while at the other extreme a widow of 85 became a bride again. Among the bridegrooms the age of 25 (921) was most usual. In 9,025 of the total ot 10,478 marriages recorded in 1927, neither parly had been previously married. Compared with the experience of pre-war days, the percentage of such unions has decreased, that recorded for 1927 being only 86, as compared with 90 for 1914. The war and the influenza epidemic of 1918 had a great influence on the number of widowed ..mi divorced persons remarrying The large number of young widows left by the war, and both widows and widowers remaining after the Influenza outbreak, created a high proportion of these people in the community, and it was only natural to expect that a considerable increase would be revealed in the number of widowed persons remarrying. SECOND VENTURES Of every 1,000 persons married in 1914, 11 were divorced, and 51 were widowers or widows. Last '’ear 30 in the 1,000 were divorced and 57 were widowers or widows. The proportion of widowed persons among brides and grooms has reached as high as 81 a 1,000 in 1918.' This is rapidly ing, and will probably continue to do so until the figure again approaches that shown for 1914. The birthrate, too, is falling steadily, and last year was lower than it has been for nearly a decade. Girths totalled 27,881, or nearly 600 below the 1926 figures. The rate was 20.29 a 1,000 of population, compared with 21.05 in 1926. These tendencies, together with an illegitimate birth-rate which remains steadily high, have provided cause for concern on the part of welfare workers and students of our social problems. In the face of the Statistician's figures—which, after all, constitute the most accurate record of tendencies —they are justifiably asking: “What is to be done about it?”