Fewer couples are divorcing after less than five years of marriage because they cannot afford to buy a home on their own, figures suggest.
Paula Hall, a counsellor with Relate, the relationship guidance service, said that as many as half the couples she saw were prepared to "stick it out", or work on their relationship, because the financial implications of divorce were so severe.
Having spent much of their life in pursuit of material wealth, couples were not going to throw it away, particularly if children were involved, she said.
People were also marrying later, which meant that they were more realistic about marriage and probably took a more mature approach to the contract in the first place....