"Ugly ideological baggage": Why I will never get married - The Saturday Story
5/2/202616 min
Marriage rates are at their lowest since 1850, and it's predicted by 2050 just 3 in 10 of us will have tied the knot. Cohabiting is now the fastest-growing family type in the UK. So what’s happening? Feminism, atheism, a mistrust of state intervention, or just an old fashion 'trend' dying out? And should cohabiting couples get the same rights as married ones?
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Read by:
- Hannah Betts, features writer, The Times.
- Will Roe, executive producer, The Story.
Producer: Dave Creasey.
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Read more: Why I will never get married
Photo: Robert Wilson for The Times Magazine
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsLuke Jones· Host0:00
[gentle music] From the Times and the Sunday Times, this is The Story. On Saturday, I'm Luke Jones. The number of people getting married is falling. It's predicted that by 2050, only three in 10 people will be married. Meanwhile, cohabiting families, so unmarried people in long-term relationships, are now the fastest growing family type in the UK. So what is happening? This week in the Times, feature writer Hannah Betts laid out her argument for why she is never going to marry her partner of 10 years, but also why she, like millions of others, are calling for the same rights as married people. It's a concern too for features writer Simon Mills. His piece is read by Wil Rowe.
Hannah Betts· Soundbite0:49
[upbeat music] Why I will never get married by Hannah Betts. "Your husband's so wonderful, charming, hot," people are forever informing me. "He is not my husband," I retort. "He's the person I'm currently sleeping with." How they laugh. Only I'm