MATRIMONY

Southland Times, Issue 20204, 15 June 1927, Page 11

MATRIMONY

A YEAR’S STATISTICS. MANY YOUTHFUL BRIDES. MORE DIVORCEES REMARRY. A surprisingly large number of minors in New Zealand were married in 1926. Nearly 2000 brides were under twenty-one years of age, and in two cases the age was between fourteen and fifteen years. The youngest bridegroom was between seventeen and eighteen. The increase in the number of widowed and divorced persons remarrying was mentioned. This information is given in the marriage statistics for 1926, complete details of which are now available. During the period under review, 10,080 marriages were celebrated, which is equal to a rate of 7.90 per 1000 of population, and represents an increase of 261 on the return for the previous yuar. Although the number of marriages in 1926 was *the second highest figure ever recorded, comments the Government Statistician in the Monthly Abstract, the rate was still low when compared with the average rate ruling for years prior to 1914. The period 1904-1913 represented a time during which the normal tendency was towards a gradual increase in the marriage rate. The outbreak of the Great War, however, seriously disturbed the direction of the rate, and the increasing diminution in the numbers of males of marriageable age quickly brought the rates to a level never previously approached. A corresponding impetus followed the return of a great number of troops in 1919, the marriages in that year being over 50 per cent, in excess of those for 1918, with a further huge increase in 1920, which year (12,175 marriages) easily held the record for the number of marriages, and had the highest rate since 1864. The high numbers and rates experienced in 1920 continued into the early months of 1921, but a falling-off then occurred presumably due to adverse economic conditions. “The rate has since then followed an extraordinarily even course,” adds the Statistician. YEARS COMPARED. The table which follows gives the numbers and rates of marriages for the period 1904-13 and during each of the last ten

THE POPULAR SEASON. Disecting the year into shorter periods, it is interesting to notice the fluctuations in the marriage totals over the last five years. June quarter invariably has the highest number of marriages for the year closely followed by December quarter, and then, at considerable intervals, by March and September quarters, in that order. The Easter and Christmas seasons are apparently regarded as the most suitable for entering the matrimonial state, and, judging by the quarterly figures Easter would seem to predominate slightly. A perusal of the figures giving the marriages contracted in each month of the last four years shows that April had the greatest number in three of the four years while in the remaining year the figures for April and December were approximately the same. The following table gives the details for 1925 and 1926 only:—

NAME THE DAY! Wednesday claims three-sevenths of the total marriages. Sunday marriages are rare, and Friday is evidently regarded as unlucky, as only about 4 per cent, of the total marriages are celebrated on that day. The 13th of the month also appears to be treated with respect, the average number of marriages on that day during 1926 being only 15, as against a general average of 29. The days of the year 1926 on which 100 marriages or over were performed were: December 22, 167; March 31, 158; April 7, 155; April 14, 148; December 29, 144 ; April 5, 140; April 28, 133; June 2, 129; June 16, 116; June 23, 110; January 27, 109; January 6, 108; June 9, 105; February 24, 103; April 21, 102; December 15, 102; June 30, 101. All the days on which more than 80 marriages were celebrated were "Wednesdays with the solitary exception of Easter Monday, April 5, which had 140 marriages. REMARRIAGES. The marriage statistics for the last few years, remarks the Government Statistician, reveal considerable increases in the number of widowed and divorced persons remarrying. In 1926 there were 242 marriages between bachelors and divorced w’omen, and 280 between bachelors and widows. The 1925 figures were respectively 234 and 336. Marriages between divorced men and spinsters in 1926 totalled 212 (205 in 1925); between divorced men and divorced women, 45 (38) ; and between divorced men and widows 48 (69). Between widowers and spinsters there were 428 marriages in 1926 (471 in 1925); between widowers and divorced women, 68 (57) ; and between widowers and widows, 193 (205). Out of every 1000 persons married in 1914, 11 were divorced and 51 widowed, the corresponding figures for 1926 being 31 and 57 respectively. The figures for 1914 and for each of the last five years are as follow:

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS. “The increase in the one case,” says the Statistician, “is a reflex of the large number of divorce cases in recent years, while as regards widows and widowers the obvious explanation lies in the war and the influenza epidemic. The proportion of widowed persons to total persons married has begun to decline, and probably will continue to do so until the proportion approaches the average attained in 1914. During the last five years it is found that while 1394 divorced men remarried, the corresponding number for women was 1585. In the case of widowed persons, however, in spite of the fact that the number of widows caused by the war and the epidemic must greatly have exceeded the widowers caused by the latter, only 2916 widows remarried as compared with 3610 widowers. It would appear that in the case of divorced persons women are more likely to remarry than men, while in the case of widowers and widows the converse holds.” AGE OF PERSONS MARRIED. Of the persons married in 1926 410 bridegrooms and 1965 brides were under twenty-one years of age. These figures are considerably larger than the number for the previous year—366 and 1831 respectively. Of the bridegrooms in 1926, 10 were between seventeen and eighteen and 32 between eighteen and nineteen. Of the brides, two were between fourteen and

fifteen, 11 between fifteen and sixteen, and 70 between sixteen and seventeen years of age. A table is given showing relative ages of bridegrooms and brides in groups of ages. It does not, however, accurately measure the disparities between the ages of the two parties, and the Statistician has further dissected the marriages in which the husband was younger than the wife to indicate the extent of that factor. It is shown that 1885 bridegrooms married brides older than themselves. In 1599 of these cases the bride was described as a spinster, in 161 cases as a widow, and in the remaining 124 cases as divorced. Taking the two last-named classes it is found that of the 521 widows remarried in 1926, 31 per cent, married men younger than themselves, and of the 355 divorced women 35 per cent, secured husbands younger than they. For all marriages the percentage was 18.—Dominion.

years:— Rate per No. 1000 pop. 1904-13 (average) . 8,142 8.51 1917 . 6 417 5 84 1918 > 6,227 5.65 1919 . 9,519 8.33 1920 , 12,175 10.21 1921 . 10,635 8.69 1922 . 9,556 7 63 1923 . 10,070 7.90 1924 . 10,259 7.90 1925 k 10,419 7.84 1926 . 10,680 7.90

1925 1926 January . .. .. 784 801 February .. .. .. .. 787 794 March 790 980 April .. .. 1294 1293 May 652 June .. .. .. .. .. 998 1090 July .. 798 756 August .. .. .... 804 734 September .. . 797 778 October .. .. .. .. 804 778 November .. . 767 767 December .. ., 1231 1295 Totals .. .. 10,419 10,680

1914 .. . Proportion per 1000 persons married Divorced Widowed 11 51 1922 .. .. 22 69 1923 .. .. 22 68 1924 .. .. 28 64 1925 .. .. 30 64 1926 .. .. 31 57