Fewer British couples are getting divorced -- partly because fewer of them are getting married in the first place.

   The government reported Thursday there were 133,000 divorces in 2006, down 6 percent from the previous year, The Daily Mail reported. The divorce rate dropped from 13.1 per 1,000 couples to 12.2 in 2006, the lowest rate in 30 years.

   If divorce is down, so is marriage with only half of women in marital relationships. The number of couples living together without marriage and often having children together has grown by 50 percent in 10 years.

   Studies show that couples who marry are more likely to stay together and that the relationships last longer even when they do separate. Non-marital relationships last an average of three years, compared to 11 for married ones.

   Britain now has 2.3 million couples living together without marriage.

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