Getting married is falling out of fashion among middle class families as only three in five couples now bother to walk down the aisle, figures reveal.

Marriage rates for middle-income couples with young children fell from 84 per cent in 1994 to 59 per cent in 2012.

Researchers said the trend away from tying the knot was largely confined to low-income groups before the 1990s, but is now spreading up the socio-economic scale.

Getting married is falling out of fashion among middle class families as only three in five couples now bother to walk down the aisle, figures reveal

The analysis by the Marriage Foundation was based on data from the Government’s Family Resources Survey and the General Household Survey.

Harry Benson, research director for the foundation, said the findings would fuel fears of higher family break-up rates among the middle classes.

He said that cohabiting couples make up only 19 per cent of parents, but account for half of all family breakdowns.

He added: ‘Our research shows a concerning spread in the collapse of marriage among the lowest earners to middle earners over recent years.

Marriage rates for middle-income couples with young children fell from 84 per cent in 1994 to 59 per cent in 2012

‘When a socio-economic group turns away from marriage, we see a corresponding hike in the rates of family breakdown.’

He said that the official nature of marriage may contribute to helping families stay together.

‘Staying in a relationship over the course of a child’s life can be extremely testing and takes a big commitment on both sides from the outset,’ he said.

‘While there are cohabiting couples who discuss their future, make the commitment and succeed in staying together, they are unfortunately rare.’

The Marriage Foundation is a think-tank founded by retired High Court judge Sir Paul Coleridge, which aims to reduce divorce rates.

It has also released an analysis showing that wealthier couples are more than three times more likely to be married than those from poorer backgrounds. The researchers found that among mothers with children under five, 87 per cent with household incomes over £43,000 are married, against only 24 per cent with incomes under £14,000.

And only 25 per cent of mothers in social housing were married in 2006, against 72 per cent of those with a mortgage. In the Seventies, marriage uptake for both groups was around 90 per cent.

The findings suggest that while the richest are continuing to tie the knot, middle earners are starting to join lower-income couples in shunning marriage.

Sir Paul said that during his career in the family courts, he witnessed a ‘massive rise’ in the number of children going through the system – and blamed the rising number of cohabiting couples who split after becoming parents.

He added that family breakdown is linked to poor academic performance and mental health issues among young people.

He said that it is ‘very concerning that two of the largest sections of society are increasingly turning away from marriage’.