Do women still want to get married?

Wedding season is upon us, and alongside conversations on colour schemes and guest experience, questions have also been raised about the long-term sustainability of the wedding industry. 

Marriage rates for opposite sex partnerships reached their lowest point in 2017, and with the average UK wedding now exceeding £20,000, it is no wonder that women are asking themselves whether they really want to get married.

Here are some of the pros and cons of getting married in 2026:

There are financial, legal, and emotional benefits to getting married that exist far beyond the idea of marrying for love. 

Marriage provides constant companionship and emotional support that reduces feelings of loneliness and improves overall mental health outcomes. 

It also grants each spouse legal rights regarding inheritance and healthcare, and sets the groundwork for accessing spousal benefits if necessary. 

Finally, several tax, pension, and property advantages married couples can benefit from to enhance their financial security. 

For example, the marriage allowance tax feature permits lower-income spouses to transfer their unused tax-free allowance to their higher-income partner, reducing their overall annual tax liability.

However, this does beg the question, why are we rewarding couples for being married in 2026? Many negatives to getting married should be taken into consideration.

After marriage, women often report enacting self-sacrificing behaviours that come at the expense of their own progression. 

It’s still common for women to leave their careers and take on the mental load to stay at home while building a family. This has the potential to result in long-term financial vulnerability for women, especially given the high rates of divorce in the UK, because they are supporting someone else’s career rather than prioritising their own financial development. 

Although it demonstrates women’s enduring commitment to compromise, there should be give and take on both sides of the partnership to allow women to have autonomy outside of the home and feel secure.

Marriage’s place in society is continuing to evolve. Couples today are keen to prove they don’t need a bit of paper and thousands in shared debt to demonstrate their love for each other, and despite conflicting perspectives over whether it is an outdated, patriarchal practice, the majority of women do still want to get married.

Written by Leah Marie Cox