When the question of the future constitution of the female population of this country as regards marital status was studied about eight years ago, the conclusion was reached (J.S.S.10, 24) that ‘a considerable fall in the number of marriages, to be followed by a consequential fall in the number of births, is almost inevitable during the next few years’. This conclusion was based on the fact that the number of births declined by 20% during the 1920's and this decline was likely to be reflected in the number of marriages about 20 to 25 years later.

In fact, marriages in England and Wales, which averaged about 350,000 a year during 1941–45, rose to 391,000 a year during 1947–49 (which presumably included a number of ‘demobilization’ marriages) and fell only to 356,000 on average during 1950–52, and 348,000 a year during 1953–55, whilst in 1956, the latest year for which figures are available, the marriages numbered 353,000.