Divorce rates for first year of marriage soar

Celebrities might be increasingly likely to fail to make it to their first wedding anniversary, but it seems here in the real world, newlyweds are falling foul to the same trend - with divorce rates in the first year at a staggering five per cent.

Yep, according to new research, one in every 20 marriages is over within 12 months of everyone gatherered together to celebrate its beginning.

But if you're getting hitched soon, fear not, the average may be being dragged down by a spate of rash nuptuals by individuals who really haven't thought this through.

The findings by Confused.com discovered that 14 per cent of new knots were tied between people who had been together for less than a year. And only 50 per cent had previously lived together.

So if you're taking things at a sensible pace, you should be fine.

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Until year four that is. According to a wider collection of data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), most divorces occur in the years between four and eight after marriage. And the current rate of divorce is almost half, 42 per cent.

A number best forgotten when you're buying another expensive pressie for your umpteenth friend wedding this year.

The ONS also revealed that women are more likely to file for divorce, with 65 per cent of breakups being awarded to them, and the average age for the disollution of marriage was 45 for men and 42 for women.

With so many marriage breaking up in the first year, commentators have suggested it could be thanks to the flurry of 'starter marriages' we've seen in Hollywood. Most notable were Kim Kardashian's 72-day marriage to Kris Humphries, and Britney Spears' union with James Alexander, which was annulled after 55 hours.

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But more likely, financial issues have been cited as major reason for early breakups, with newly married couples often embarking on serious financial commitments together such as buying a house, setting up a joint bank account or taking out life insurance. Though you'd have thought the marriage and wedding planning would have been a good dry run ahead of these, really.

If you have rushed into things, fear not. It seems that getting over a short-lived marriage is pretty easy. A fifth of divorcees have met another partner within a mere six months.