KEY POINTS:
Last year 59 per cent of first-born children came into the world out of wedlock, putting French disenchantment with marriage second only to that of the liberal Swedes.
Only 268,000 people got married in France last year - the lowest figure since 1990. There is now more than one divorce for every two marriages.
The 152,000 divorces last year marked an increase of 40,000 on 2002.
Five times more French people got divorced last year than did in 1963.
Last year 90 per cent of the 154,000 Pacs (pacte civil de solidarite) contracts signed were entered into by heterosexual couples.
The partnership contract, introduced in 1999 mainly with gay people in mind, provides for joint taxation but confers little legal security.
Even though Pacs partnerships can be ended simply by sending a recorded delivery letter to a judge, only one in seven of the contracts ends in "divorce".
-Observer
