The number of people divorcing in later life has been increasing at a time when divorce rates overall have been falling. What's behind the phenomenon of the "silver splitters"?
如今，英国整体离婚率有所下降，但老年人离婚的数量却一直在增加。退休人群劳燕分飞背后的原因又是什么呢？
"When I proposed to her, I almost straight away regretted having done that."
“向她求婚后我几乎马上就后悔了。”
But the engagement was announced on the front page of his local paper and Peter felt he couldn't back out. "I was weak-willed at the time," he says.
但订婚消息登上了当地报纸的头版，彼得觉得自己不能打退堂鼓。“当时我是个意志薄弱的人，”他说。
Peter married in 1967. Thirty-six years later, at the age of 64, he did back out.
彼得于1967年结婚。三十六年后，彼得在64岁的时候结束了这段婚姻。
"I just bundled what I could into the car and went. I do remember her standing on the doorstep. And I did feel sorry - even guilty - then that I was hurting her, really."
“我打包了自己的东西驱车离去。我还记得她站在门前的台阶上的样子，那时我也感到很遗憾，甚至很有罪恶感，因为我真的伤害了她。”
It's the kind of private moment of pain that's part of a national trend.
这种痛苦的离婚时刻成为了全英国的趋势之一。
Divorce among people aged 60 and over in England and Wales has risen since the 1990s, according to the Office of National Statistics - while among the rest of the population, it has fallen (with a slight rise in 2012).
国家统计办公室的数据显示：自90年代以来，英格兰和威尔士60岁及以上人群的离婚率呈上升趋势，而在60岁以下的人群中，离婚率却在下降（除了2012年有轻微的上升）。
In 2011, nearly 9,500 men in this age group divorced - an increase of almost three-quarters compared with 20 years earlier. The trend for women is similar. And it's not just because there are more older people now.
2011年，60岁以上人中，有近9500个男人选择了离婚，这一比重比20年前增加了近四分之三。女性也有相似的趋势。而且这不只是因为现在老年人的人口比重增加了。
Peter and Anne played the piano together
彼得和安妮在一起弹钢琴
The catalyst for Peter was a relationship he started with his piano partner, Anne. Practising duets for the church choir, they fell in love.
彼得离婚的催化剂是他与自己钢琴搭档安妮的一段情缘。他们在为教会合唱团排练二重奏时坠入了爱河。
"We are good friends, and that's something I didn't have with my first husband," says Anne, who ended her first marriage when she was in her 50s. "And we can laugh when things go wrong."
“我和彼得是好朋友，我和第一任丈夫之间从未有过这种情愫，”安妮说道，她在50多岁的时候结束了自己的第一段婚姻。“即使出了问题我们也可以笑着面对。”
Research suggests a big driver of the increase in "silver splitters" is increasing life expectancy.
研究表明，银发一族离婚率的的暴涨也延长了人们的预期寿命。
And people want more from their retirement, according to solicitor Karin Walker, of law firm KGW Family Law in Woking and the family law association, Resolution.
沃金律师事务所KGW家庭法和家庭法协会的律师卡琳·沃克（Karin Walker）称，人们在退休生活中想要获得更多的东西。
"People are looking very much at the latter third of their life and what they want to do with it," she says.
“人们会充分审视人生剩下的三分之一时光，思考自己究竟想要做什么，”她说。
"Certainly clients I've had say they want to take up a pastime they've not done before - perhaps cycling or travelling. And very often their spouse isn't keen to participate in that, and that can cause friction and a parting of ways."
“当然，有些客户想发展自己的业余爱好，尝试一些自己以前从未做过的事——也许是骑自行车或旅行这类活动，而很多时候他们的另一半对此没有太大的热情，这样夫妻间就可能会产生摩擦，最后甚至分道扬镳。”
Age gaps can put marriages under strain in later life, according to Barbara Bloomfield, a counsellor for Relate in Bristol and the counselling supervisor at Relate Cymru.
布里斯托尔Relate协会（一个调节家庭关系的顾问协会）的家庭顾问兼威尔士Relate协会顾问监察员的芭芭拉·布卢姆菲尔德（Barbara Bloomfield）称，年龄差距会让老年生活压力重重。
"Let's say there's a 10-year age gap. Ten years is nothing, it's flattering, when you're 20 and 30. When you're 70 and 80 it's a totally different thing," she says.
“夫妻间若有10岁的年龄差，当你们分别20岁和30岁时，这点年龄差算什么，调情可以解决一切问题。但到了你们70岁和80岁的时候，年龄差就是一个完全不同的东西了，”她说。
"And I think often where there's an age gap the younger party can think: 'Oh my goodness, the rest of my life is going to be spent looking after him or her.'
“我常常想若是有这样的年龄差，年轻的一方会不会这么想，'噢，天哪，我的余生就要用来照顾他（她）了。'”
Another factor is wealth. The baby boomers tend to have good pensions. Their property's worth a lot. They can more afford to divorce in retirement than people used to be able to.
另一个影响因素就是财富。婴儿潮出生的一代人往往会享受着不错的退休金。他们的房产很值钱。和之前的人对比，他们退休的时候更能承担得起离婚的代价。
"From the point of view of wives as well, where hitherto the wife really couldn't find herself in a position to leave home - those first 24 hours where she didn't know where to stay, didn't have any money to pay for a hotel - it all became rather daunting," says Walker, "whereas now women are much more financially independent and are much better able to take control of their lives."
“从女方的角度而言，以前的妻子根本离不开家。最初的24小时内，她不知道自己能呆在哪儿，也没钱住酒店。离开家生活一切会变得相当艰巨，“沃克说，”而现在的女人在经济上更独立，并能更好地掌控自己的生活。”
David, not his real name, was 70 when his wife of the same age packed a bag and left.
大卫（化名）70岁时，他同龄的妻子收拾了东西和他分道扬镳。
"You go through phases - anger, you go through regret, you feel discarded as a husband, you feel you perhaps should have done a bit more and talked, but it takes two to talk and that didn't happen."
“你会愤怒，然后会遗憾，你会觉得自己是个被抛弃的丈夫，你觉得自己本应更努力挽回这一切，本应和对方多谈谈，但一个巴掌拍不响，双方并没有好好交谈沟通。”
He believes the suicide of their son, a number of years earlier, and episodes of ill health may have taken their toll on the relationship.
他认为，数年前儿子的自杀和疾病发作的经历让他们的关系走到绝境。
"She'd been unhappy for years and I hadn't noticed, and therefore she wanted to have financial independence - a clean break, and go and live on her own."
“我并没有注意到多年以来她一直闷闷不乐。她想要经济独立，于是就这么跟我一刀两断，撇下我自己独自生活”
Walker says divorcing in your 60s or 70s can create more discord in families than if it had happened earlier in the marriage. She thinks children can take it worse when they're adults.
沃克称，比起早年分手，在六七十岁离婚会引起更大的风波。她认为成年的孩子们可能会更难面对这一事实。
"I worry about loneliness," says Dame Esther Rantzen, the founder of Silver Line, the helpline for older people.
“我害怕孤独，”银线（Silver Line）的创始人戴姆·艾斯特·兰泽恩（Dame Esther Rantzen）说道，该服务热线旨在帮助老年人。
She suspects this is an issue causing more pain to older divorcees than may be apparent.
比起乍看之下的显眼原因，她怀疑孤独是造成老年离婚者更多痛苦的因素。
"When they're taking this big step, they may be losing more than they realise. They may also be losing contact with their children, because divorce often means people side with one parent or another.
“当走出这重大的一步时，他们可能会失去更多预料外的东西，他们可能会与自己的孩子失联，因为离婚往往意味着孩子会选择阵营，支持父母双方中的一边。”
"And in all this, I think there is certain amount of stigma. They feel ashamed that that sacred pledge they made those years ago they haven't fulfilled. They're not staying together 'til death us do part' and this may mean they're ashamed to ask for help. Let's discuss it, and say this is one of the things that happen when you get older."
“而在这其中，我觉得又一定会有耻辱感在作祟。他们会为没能履行多年前许下的神圣承诺而感到羞愧。他们并没有永不分离，“直到死亡把我们分开”，而这也意味着他们可能会因此而愧于寻求帮助。让我们直面这个问题，因为老年时期发生这种事情是正常的。”
Peter is happy with his new life with Anne, whom he married in 2011, when he was 72. But his divorce came at a cost. Relations with some of his family are now tricky.
彼得和现任妻子安妮的婚姻生活美满快乐，他们在2011年结婚，当时彼得72岁。但他的离婚付出了一定的代价。现在他与部分家人的关系相当棘手。
"If somebody came to me now, before they'd left their wife, asking what they should do I think my answer would be see if you can make it work, in other words don't do what I did."
“如果现在有人在离开妻子前找我，问我他们应该怎么做，我想我的答案会是‘看看这事行得通吗’，也就是说，不要重蹈我的覆辙。”
Why?
为什么？
"Because of the hurt."
“因为伤害长存。”
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