"Ugly ideological baggage": Why I will never get married - The Saturday Story

不结婚就滚蛋?

The Story

2026-05-02

19 分钟
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单集简介 ...

Marriage rates are at their lowest since 1850, and it's predicted by 2050 just 3 in 10 of us will have tied the knot. Cohabiting is now the fastest-growing family type in the UK. So what’s happening? Feminism, atheism, a mistrust of state intervention, or just an old fashion 'trend' dying out? And should cohabiting couples get the same rights as married ones? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory Read by: Hannah Betts, features writer, The Times.Will Roe, executive producer, The Story.Producer: Dave Creasey. We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.com Read more: Why I will never get married Photo: Robert Wilson for The Times Magazine This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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单集文稿 ...

  • From The Times and The Sunday Times, this is The Story.

  • On Saturday, I'm Luke Jones.

  • The number of people getting married is falling.

  • It's predicted that by 2050, only three in ten people will be married.

  • Meanwhile, cohabiting families—so unmarried people in long-term relationships—are now the fastest-growing family type in the UK.

  • So what is happening?

  • This week in The Times, feature writer Hannah Betts laid out her argument

  • for why she is never going to marry her partner of 10 years,

  • but also why she, like millions of others, is calling for the same rights as married people.

  • It's a concern too for features writer Simon Mills.

  • His piece is read by Will Roe.

  • Why I will never get married, by Hannah Betts.

  • "Your husband's so wonderful, charming, hot," people are forever informing me.

  • "He is not my husband," I retort.

  • "He's the person I'm currently sleeping with."

  • How they laugh.

  • Only I'm not joking.

  • Terence and I may have been together for 11 and a half years, but I will never marry him.

  • Nor he me.

  • We are not outliers here.