LOVE, companionship and loyalty are supposed to make marriage in your pensionable age unbreakable – but not any more.

New figures show more and more pensioners in Hampshire cannot wait to get a taste of the older, free and single lifestyle.

According to marriage guidance experts, increasing numbers of OAPs are ditching their partners with more financial security, longer life expectancy and having no need to look after children among the main reasons.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that in 1991, there were 1.6 divorces per 1,000 married men over 60 and that figure has now risen to 2.3 for 2011.

For women, there were 1.2 divorces per 1,000 married over 60 in 1991 which increased to 1.6 in 2011.

The so-called “silver splitters” are married for around three decades before separating, the ONS found.

In 2011, the average length of marriage for men aged 60 and over who got divorced was 27.4 years, figures show.

Women over 60 who divorced during the same year had been married for an average of 31.9 years.

While the overall number of divorces has been falling since the mid-1990s, the number of over-60s who are filing for divorce has increased, the ONS said.

The number of men aged 60 and over who were granted divorces hit 9,500 in 2011 – a 73 per cent rise from 1991.

Officials noted a similar trend in the number of older women – 5,800 women over 60 divorced in 2011, a sharp rise from 3,200 in 1991.

The gender gap could be explained by the fact that, on average, husbands tend to be older than their wives, the ONS said.

The overall number of silver separators is at its second highest level on record – the highest was in 1972 after the Divorce Reform Act came into effect, making it easier for couples to separate.

Ruth Sutherland, chief executive of relationship charity Relate, said: “It is clear from these statistics that there are many pressures facing couples as they grow older.

“Relationships are often missing in the current debate on our ageing society, but 83 per cent of people we surveyed aged over 50 told us that strong personal relationships were the most important factor to a happy later life.

“This data shows once again that this is a very real issue for many older people.”
Don Harper, secretary of Southampton Pensioners’ Forum, has been married for 50 years, yet can see how other couples can decide to separate.

Don said: “I think perhaps one of the main reasons would be that couples over 60 are not looking after children anymore.

“When I got married over 50 years ago divorce really wasn’t very common and I could see why couples would stay together even though they did not get on with each other, because of looking after children.”

Former policeman Jim Brown has been married to his wife Marian for 60 years and found that work nearly put his marriage in jeopardy.

He was once a detective whose working hours would be from 9am through to 3am the following morning, and witnessed how badly his relationship was affected by this.

He said: “I think the stress of work is what is causing people to divorce now, as people are working more at a later age.

“I used to work around the clock as a detective, and I would come back from work feeling irritable and all I wanted was some peace and quiet.

“Then it dawned on me that if I wasn’t careful my marriage would break up, so I put in a request to go back to working regular hours.”

Lawyers across Hampshire have confirmed that they have seen an increase in working with clients that are seeking a divorce over the age of 60.

Katy Barber, a solicitor at Moore Blatch Solicitors in Southampton, said: “We have seen an increase in people over 60 divorcing.

“People are living longer, so when they reach 60 they ask: do I want another 30 years with this person?”