You asked
I would like to request information under FOIA about divorce rates among same-sex couples.
Please can you advise under Section 16 of FOIA whether the ONS system for use in the production of divorce statistics (or any other ONS system) records the gender of couples who are granted a divorce, or whether the ONS hold any other information which may indicate the type of marriage it was prior to divorce (for example, whether it was a same-sex or different-sex marriage), and whether this information is held in a computerised database format?
How many same-sex couples have been granted a divorce since same-sex marriages became legal in March last year? Please can you provide me with an IT report in a machine readable re-useable format (such as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet) in accordance with recent ICO guidance on datasets that breaks down the data by the month the divorce was granted, and a further breakdown by male-male divorces and female-female divorces?
We said
Thank you for your query regarding divorce data
In terms of your first question, the ONS database system for divorce data does hold a variable which identifies whether a divorce is same sex or opposite sex and also variables for the sex of each person divorcing.
In terms of your second question, 2014 divorce data has only recently been received and will not be released until 2016 when the data has been fully quality assured
In 2013, ONS consulted on the future of marriage, divorce and civil partnership statistics given the introduction of marriages to same sex couples. The results of the consultation are here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/about-ons/get-involved/consultations-and-user-surveys/consultations/user-requirements-for-marriage--divorce-and-civil-partnership-statistics/index.html This outlines our plans to publish both opposite sex and same sex divorces.