Jeweller - February 2019

ENGAGEMENT
The pool of married people is increasing every year, since the
divorce rate, which is continuing to fall, is much lower than the
marriage rate. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ annual marriage
and divorce figures also showed people were choosing to get
married later in life, with the national average age for a woman to
wed reaching above 30 years old for the first time.
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
Following the historic marriage equality vote on 9 November 2017,
the ABS announced that, of the eligible Australians who voted, 61.6
per cent responded ‘Yes’ and 38.4 per cent responded ‘No’. Nearly
80 per cent of eligible Australian voters participated, with all states
and territories recording a majority ‘Yes’ response.
On 9 December 2017, same-sex marriage was officially legalised
and the right to marry under Australian law was no longer
determined by sex or gender.
There were 3,149 same-sex marriages in the first 6 months since
the changes to the Marriage Act 1961. It includes counts of samesex
marriages at the national and state and territory level, as well as
demographic characteristics of those who married.
ENGAGEMENT
According to a survey of 3,300 couples by website Easy Weddings,
9 per cent of all engagements happen between Christmas Eve and
New Year’s Day. The average cost of an engagement ring is $5,134.
About one in two engagement rings are chosen without
consulting the other partner, while one in four couples decide on
an engagement ring together. Six per cent of engagements are
formed without a ring.
The 2018 study also found that the average age of the bride is 28
and 93 per cent are aged 35 years or under when they marry. The
average age of the groom is 29 and 87 per cent of grooms are
aged 35 years or under when they marry.
Is there an ‘engagement season’? The term was coined in the US
to mark the period when there is an increase in engagement
proposals, which spans from Thanksgiving in late November
to around February. Yes, there are people who get engaged on
Valentine’s Day. How original.
While Thanksgiving is not widely recognised or celebrated in
Australia, the Christmas and New Year holiday period (December to
January) is the time many engagements are announced, probably
because couples in a more positive and relaxed, making it an ideal
time to pop the question.
Coincidentally, the same holiday period is when most divorces
are announced! That could also explain the spike in new
members to dating websites after Christmas and
into the New Year.
When it comes to choosing the wedding
day, 34 per cent of couples said there
was no single reason, but that it was
convenient for a range of reasons. On the
other hand, 21 per cent of couples said
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