a decrease in, a decline in

J

JI Seun

Member
Korean
Hello, everyone.
I am trying to make the following sentence sound more natural in English.

(1) Allianz explained that some of the reasons behind the poverty of elderly women are a decrease in marriages, an increase in divorces and an increased life expectancy.

(2) Allianz explained that some of the reasons behind the poverty of elderly women are a decline in marriages, an increase in divorces and an increased life expectancy.

Can I use "a decrease in" interchangeably with "a decline in"?
Also, should the nouns "marriage" and "divorce" in this sentence be used in plural form as above?
 
    • 'Decrease' implies a numerical change; 'decline' does not. Therefore it is appropriate to speak of a decrease in marriages (countable) and a decline in marriage (non-countable); likewise for divorce.
     
    If you want to say there are not so many marriages as there used to be, that the number of marriages is getting smaller, use decrease, and it may help if you add in the number. That clarification would also work with decline ("a decline in the number of marriages"), but somehow I prefer to associate decline (certainly when it appears without "in the number", but sometimes even when not) with quality rather than quantity. If marriage is (or marriages are) declining, I would take it to mean it is (or they are) getting worse, not less numerous.
     
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