28 Jan 2022
Peterborough office
48 Broadway, Peterborough Cambridgeshire, PE1 1YW
01733 346 333 01733 562 338 enquiries@hegarty.co.ukStamford office
10 Ironmonger Street, Stamford Lincolnshire, PE9 1PL
01780 752 066 01780 762 774 enquiries@hegarty.co.ukOakham office
66 South Street, Oakham Rutland, LE15 6BQ
01572 757 565 01572 720 555 enquiries@hegarty.co.ukMarket Deeping office
27a Market Place, Market Deeping, PE6 8EA
01778 230 120 01778 230 129 enquiries@hegarty.co.uk28 Jan 2022
Throughout the past two years there have been numerous reports in the media predicting a ‘divorce boom’ due to the coronavirus pandemic. A Citizens Advice report showed a 25% increase in internet searches for people seeking divorce guidance in September 2020. But what is the true picture of the number of people getting divorced in the UK?
Statistics for divorce rates in 2020 are yet to be released by the Office for National Statistics, however, like a many law firms, our family team at Hegarty have seen an 18% rise in divorce advice enquiries online in the past two years. It remains to be seen whether this will be reflected in a national increase in divorce proceedings for the past two years or whether divorce rates will continue to follow the pattern of decline that we have seen over previous years.
The most recent divorce statistics from the Office of National Statistics show a 30% decrease in the number of divorces since a peak in 2003. In 2019, divorce rates contradicted this trend, with an 18.4% increase on 2018 figures. However, this increase likely reflects a backlog of casework from 2018 being processed in 2019 translating into a higher number of completed divorces in 2019.
The infographics below contain various statistics about divorce taken from the latest Office of National Statistics report for 2019.
