There are complex social reasons behind the long-term rise in family breakdown. These
include a cultural shift in family formation away from married-couple families towards
increasing numbers of lone parents and sole registrations of births as well as cohabiting
families. Over the last 40 years, the proportion of the adult population who are married
has declined from about 70 per cent of the adult population to less than half, while the
percentage of lone parents has almost doubled.15 The rise in cohabitation is the cultural trend