Highest rates of divorce in seaside towns according to research

Data from the recently published Office for National Statistics legal partnership status report has revealed the areas with the highest divorce rates in the UK. 

The analysis, which has been conducted by Reiss Edwards Family Law, has identified Norwich as the area with the highest divorce rate in England, where more than one in five people who have ever been married are now divorced or have had their civil partnerships dissolved (ever-married residents are those who answered ‘married,’ ‘widowed,’ or ‘divorced’ on the Census survey).

Norwich is closely followed by the coastal towns of Blackpool (21.21%) and Hastings (21.03%) in the top three ‘divorce hotspots’ say the firm.

Coastal and seaside towns are a recurrent theme in the top 15 locations with the highest divorce rates. Speculating on the reasons for high divorce rates in coastal areas, Amar Ali, Managing Director of Reiss Edwards Family Law, said the often seasonal nature of employment and economic instability in tourism-dependent areas may contribute to added pressure on marriages. There is also a concentration in the rankings published by the firm in London, with Lambeth, Southwark and Islington featuring.

Lincoln ranks fourth with a divorce rate of 19.57%, the highest-placed inland city in the top five. In Lincoln, 42,537 people have ever been married and 8,326 people that have been divorced. Eastbourne, another seaside town, completes the top five with 18.98% of its ever-married population now divorced or with dissolved civil partnerships. Torbay, a popular holiday destination in Devon, ranks sixth with 18.74% of ever-married residents now divorced.

Portsmouth, with a rate of 18.67%, ranks seventh, and as a naval city with a history of residents spending long periods away from home in military service, this could influence relationship stability in the area. Great Yarmouth, another East Anglian coastal town, has a divorce rate of 18.63%, placing it eighth in the rankings. Kingston upon Hull follows in ninth place with 18.57% of its ever-married population now divorced. Hull has a total population of 115,824 people that have ever been married and 21,505 people that have been divorced.

Thanet in Kent rounds out the top ten with a divorce rate of 18.53%. This district, which includes Margate and Ramsgate, continues the strong showing of coastal areas in the divorce rankings.
Lambeth (18.46%), Southwark (18.44%), and Islington (18.41%) take positions 11, 12, and 13 respectively. Brighton and Hove ranks 14th with a divorce rate of 18.32% and Gosport in Hampshire ranks 15th with 18.24% of ever-married residents now divorced.

The 15 areas in England with the highest divorce rates