Marriage may be out of favour and legally binding lifelong commitment in long-term decline, but the diehard romantics among us should take heart: romance is not dead yet.

There is no doubt that a sustained shift in cultural, religious and social attitudes over the past 50 years means that marriage is now a lifestyle choice, rather than the necessary step towards a sex life and secure social status it once was.

But it is worth considering two points that may have helped to push marriage rates to the lowest point since records began.

First, these figures do not take into account the 10 per cent of English and Welsh couples getting married overseas. Add a considerable number of weddings from beaches, gardens and Little White Chapels to the latest statistics and the nation’s love life is not as desperate as it first appears. Another factor that may have artificially decreased the marriage rate comes courtesy of an amendment to the law in February 2005. The change was designed to crack down on “sham” marriages carried out for purposes such as securing a visa. Fewer of these marriages are a good thing. They should not be hijacked as proof of our national fear of commitment.

Marriage is no longer a necessity. Instead, those who do marry make a commitment for personal, emotional, or – a dwindling minority – religious reasons. I predict that the reduction in quantity may lead to an increase in quality. Fewer unions may take place, but more - proportionately speaking – will go the distance.

Perhaps, it is not all gloom and doom. This may hintthat more people are staying together for the right reasons, rather than marrying for the wrong ones.

Rebecca Probert is an associate professor specialising in family law at Warwick University

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