The marriage rate in Britain could fall to just 1 in every 400 couples over the course of the next two generations, a new study suggests.

Researchers at the Civitas think tank believe that by 2062 annual marriage rates will have fallen by more than 70 per cent, compared with annual marriage rates today.

The current marriage rate in Britain is around one couple for every 100 adults. Civitas estimates that 67,000 couples in England and Wales will marry in 2062 compared with 213,000 in 2019.

Harry Benson, research director of the Marriage Foundation, has called for new benefits for married couples, to provide more incentives for young people to get married. He said:

“Marriage may be down, but it is far from out. Four out of five couples are married. Nine out of ten intact couples with teenage children are married.

"The real scandal here is that those from the poorest backgrounds are twice as likely to not marry as those from the richest. This is why we have called on the government to take immediate action".

Mr Benson said Ministers need "to close the marriage gap, so that the many benefits for both the couple and any children they might have can be enjoyed by more and more people".

“If the UK government really wants to back marriage, they should start by getting rid of the couple penalty and introducing a meaningful married couples’ allowance", he said.