Divorce judge: most couples in Hello! magazine end up in my court within a year or two Has marriage reached crisis point in Britain? Last year, he suggested that people needed to re-educate themselves about the value of stable relationships for the good of society and warned that getting a divorce was easier than getting a driving licence. His foundation will devise policies and practical support to help reverse the trend towards family break up. The judge estimated that divorce meant about 3.8 million children were caught up in the family justice system each year. He said that the ease of divorce rules had led to instability of family life, which had damaging consequences for children, parents and society. The Government estimates that marriage rates have more than halved in the past 40 years and the number of lone-parent households has increased by an average of 26,000 a year from the early 1980s to 2010.