Divorce no deterrent to the hopes of the young

FEW experiences would seem more likely to turn young people off the idea of marriage than a broken home. In many, though not all, cases its traumas and bitter memories can last a lifetime. But despite the relentless rise in the incidence of divorce, the children of Britain's divorce generation still believe in marriage. Indeed, according to a new survey, they also want to tie the knot sooner rather than later.

More than eight out of ten young women with divorced or separated parents still hope to marry, most while still in their twenties. For some, this is no more surprising than the perennial – and foredoomed –triumph of hope over experience. Every newlywed couple confidently believes that the troubles that sometimes beset the marriages of their own parents will not befall them. Indeed, if this hope was not so powerful the institution of marriage would have folded long ago. Each new generation, like each new government, believes the sins of the past will not be visited on it.

For many, it is still seen to provide the best framework for having and rearing children. That remains the most compelling and life-affirming ambition of every new generation. The good news, of course, is that most marriages do succeed and survive the tribulations of child-rearing to last over decades, bringing comfort and companionship in old age. Marriage may not be for everyone, but since few can contemplate a future of growing old alone, it is, for better or worse, the step we boldly take.