英國：大齡單身女性劇增

One in three women in UK is unmarried at 35, official figures show. In 2000, only a quarter were not married. And in 1990, just one in ten was in this position.

Marriage began to experience a decline in the 1980s, but in the last decade its popularity has fallen more sharply.

The downward trend corresponds with an increase in women following careers, the rising cost of buying a home and the growing acceptance of couples simply living together.

Analysts believe the introduction of tax credits to the benefit system since 1999 has dissuaded many from marrying, as they favour single mothers.

Figures show a couple with children must earn ￡50,000 a year between them before they are better off than if they lived apart.

The figures, from the Office of National Statistics, showed that fewer than two-thirds of women who reached 35 in 2005 had married - 665 from every 1,000.

Among those born five years earlier, nearly three-quarters had been married by 35.

About nine out of ten women who were 35 in 1990 had been married at least once.

However, the trend away from marriage seems at odds with the wishes of both men and women.

Previously polls have found that about seven out of ten still aspire to marriage.

Robert Whelan of the Civitas civic value think-tank said: "This is an incredible collapse, not just because of the extent but because of the speed.

"If it goes on we will soon see a majority of women unmarried in their mid-thirties.

"What we are seeing is a huge and growing gap between what people want in their lives and what they are getting."

據官方數據顯示，英國35歲的女性中，有三分之一的人單身。2000年這一數據僅為四分之一，1990年只有十分之一。

英國的結婚人數從上世紀80年代開始減少，在過去十年中減少的更快。

這一趨勢主要是由追求事業的女性增多、房價上漲以及同居日益被接受造成的。

分析人士認為，從1999年開始實行的稅款抵免福利制度使很多人不愿結婚，這一政策對單身媽媽最為有利。

有關數據顯示，一對有孩子的夫婦一年必須掙到5萬英鎊，才能使生活比一個人時過得好。

英國國家統計署的統計數據顯示，2005年滿35歲的女性中，已婚比例不到三分之二（1000人中有665人）。

而在40歲的女性中，近四分之三的人在35歲前已結婚。

1990年，90%的35歲女性至少已經結了一次婚。

然而，這一趨勢與男性和女性的愿望似乎并不相符。

此前的調查發現，約70%的人仍然渴望結婚。

民眾價值智囊團Civitas的羅伯特·威蘭說：“無論是從范圍還是從速度上，這種下降讓人難以置信。”

“如果這一趨勢繼續下去，不久之后我們就會看到大多數女性到了30多歲還沒結婚。”

“目前的狀況是，人們對于生活的期望與他們所得到的結果之間存在著巨大的、而且仍在加大的差距。”