THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL FORECASTS .sx . ONE OF THESE MARRIAGES WILL FAIL .sx But four happy couples say he's talking nonsense .sx by DIANA NORMAN .sx PEOPLE disapprove of teenagers marrying .sx They shake their heads and say :sx " They're too young .sx " They point to official statistics which show that one out of four girls who marry between 16 and 18 ends up in the divorce court .sx And they say :sx " That proves it .sx " But does it ?sx To find out , I travelled all over the country , meeting couples who married very young .sx None of them was newly married .sx Most had been married for between two to six years .sx I am going to tell you the stories of four such couples .sx If the Registrar General , who compiles national statistics of births , deaths and marriages is right , one of them will be in the divorce court within the next 20 years .sx All of them have encountered greater hardship than most couples who wait until they are older before marrying .sx Almost all have had to face the suspicion that they had to get married , although it was untrue .sx They have come up against parental disapproval , and landladies who wanted to see their marriage lines before offering them accommodation .sx They have all had to raise children on small wages .sx Take , for instance , the case of the Annandales who were married six and a half years ago , when Brian was 17 , and Pam 16 .sx Now they have a nice home in Germany , where 23-year-old Brian , a regular in the RAF , is stationed .sx They have a car and Pat has a fur coat .sx But less than four years ago they went hungry in order that their baby , David , would have food .sx They told me about it recently when Brian was on leave and they were staying with Pam's parents in Francis-road , Ashford , Kent .sx Brian was then a National Serviceman , getting just under +5 a week .sx He found that , because he was under 21 , the RAF would not give him and Pam married quarters .sx Nor- again because he was a minor- would they grant him the guinea a week extra normally given to married men in the RAF who have to pay their own rent .sx " It was a very bad time , " said Brian .sx " It could have caused a split between us .sx But , luckily , it brought us closer together .sx " He added :sx " We realise now that we took a terrific risk , marrying so young .sx But when our parents pointed this out to us before we married , we thought they were wrong .sx " Brian and Pam went to the same junior school in Ashford .sx And Brian smilingly recalled :sx " I couldn't stand the sight of her then .sx " TAKE-OVER .sx They met again when Brian was in the local cycle speedway team , and Pam , at 15 , was going out with his team captain .sx " Within a week I had accidentally crashed into the captain on the track , broken his arm , taken over his position as captain and taken his girl away from him , " grinned Brian .sx " He was best man at our wedding .sx . " Neither Brian nor Pam can tell you the exact moment when they decided to get married- " it was just an understanding between us .sx " Proposals are rare among teenagers .sx Nearly all say :sx " We just knew we were going to marry- that's all .sx " Pam told me :sx " We came up against a terrific amount of suspicion .sx Suspicion that we had had to get married .sx Even though our baby arrived two years after our wedding , some people still think that he was the reason for our early marriage .sx " Brian agreed that the dice are loaded against teenage marriages .sx " We refused to borrow money from our parents during those difficult times .sx We thought we'd save rent by buying a caravan on HP .sx " But , because we were both under 21 , the firm refused to sell to us .sx In the end we had to buy it in Pam's father's name .sx " Despite the travelling Brian has done since he joined the RAF , Pam has managed to go with him almost everywhere .sx In fact , she told me :sx " In the six years of our marriage , I've been away from him only for about three months .sx " Do they quarrel ?sx " Of course , " said Brian .sx " Like mad sometimes .sx . " But he added :sx " We never row in front of David .sx " We have a really happy marriage .sx The months I spent apart from Pam were the most miserable of my life .sx " Well , that's the Annandales .sx I'd risk a large bet that it won't be their marriage which ends in failure .sx SCARCE .sx And so to the Bowketts .sx . In the two years they've been married , Keith Bowkett and his pretty , fair-haired wife , Violet- they're both 18- haven't lived together at all .sx The housing shortage and scarcity of flats in their home town of Pontardawe , near Swansea , South Wales , have forced Violet to go on living with her parents , sister and three brothers at their home in Holly-street- although she is now a married woman with a small baby .sx Keith , whom she married on her 16th birthday , lives with his parents a short distance away , just as he did when he was a schoolboy .sx They meet each other whenever Keith's job as a collier on shift work will allow them to .sx They sit in one or other of their parents' homes watching television .sx Or they hold hands in the pictures or go for walks .sx And at night they kiss each other goodbye and then go back to their respective homes .sx " We thought we would be able to find a place , but we haven't , " said Violet , bluntly .sx " Both our parents' houses are too small to let us have a bedroom of our own .sx We're on the council's waiting list , but I've known people around here who have waited nearly ten years to be given a house .sx " Flats are scarce and expensive , and landlords don't want you if you've got a baby .sx " Keith and Violet , like Brian and Pam Annandale , and so many other youngsters , met at school and began courting at 15 .sx They insisted on marrying as soon as Violet was legally old enough- 16 .sx Violet's parents were against the marriage .sx Her mother , 40-year-old Mrs. Pearl Epps , said :sx " I didn't want Violet to marry so young , but when youngsters make up their minds you can't stop them .sx " So I made up my mind to make the best of it and gave them a nice wedding reception here at home .sx HEARTBREAK .sx " Sometimes when I see Violet looking after her baby , Steven , and remember it was only a short time ago that she was a baby herself , it nearly breaks my heart .sx " She has no idea of the cost of things , because she's never had a home of her own to run .sx But I must say she's making a good job of bringing up Steven .sx " People have told Violet that she deserves better , and that because Keith hasn't provided her with a home , she has grounds for divorce .sx But Violet just pushes back her long hair and hugs Steven even closer .sx " Maybe Keith hasn't been quite as responsible as he should , " she told me .sx " But if I had my time over again , I'd marry him just the same- although perhaps not quite so early .sx " He'll find a home for me one of these days .sx " she added resolutely .sx " And I'll stick by him .sx " If love , loyalty and courage count for anything , it won't be Violet's marriage that will break up .sx Perhaps Pat Cane , 17 , and her 23-year-old husband , Tom , are a bit luckier .sx At least they have a room to themselves , with a cot in it for their seven-month-old daughter , Michel .sx DIVIDED .sx The room is in a council flat at Tulse Hill , in South London- the home of Pat's parents .sx The other three bedrooms in the flat are divided among Pat's parents and seven of her ten brothers and sisters .sx Quite a crowd , eh ?sx " We've tried to find a place of our own .sx " said Pat , who also married on her 16th birthday .sx " In fact , recently we left here for a flat that Tom had found for us .sx But the landlady was terribly bossy- they can be you know- and kept hinting that we weren't married .sx " Eventually I showed her my marriage lines .sx But she said they were probably forged .sx " So we moved back with Mum , who's been very kind , and we're now trying to find somewhere else .sx " Tom , a +12-a-week decorator , met Pat over two years ago .sx " I asked her to go to the pictures with me .sx " said Tom .sx " The film was Look Back in Anger , but WE haven't- not once .sx " When we decided to get married , Pat's parents didn't object at all .sx Pat's mum was only 17 when she married , and has been happy ever since .sx " But my mother was very opposed to the marriage .sx She even refused to come to the wedding .sx " Pat , taking up the story , said " I didn't like Tom being 'estranged' from his mother , so when Michel was born , I took the baby round to show her , and tried to make things up between them .sx The moment she saw Michel she 'came round' .sx Now we get on very well .sx " Pat's mother , 42-year-old Mrs. Lille Barnham , told me :sx " I can't think why people are so down on teenage marriages , and try to wreck them .sx " If girls are as sensible as Pat , who helped bring up her young brothers and sisters , I can't see any objection to their marrying when they like .sx " Surely it won't be Tom and Pat Cane who break up .sx Then there are the Bandeys of Wandsworth , London .sx Alice Bandey , age 17 , was expecting her first baby in six weeks when I saw her .sx And she and her 17-year-old husband , Michael , whom she married just over a year ago , were going to have to find another place to live .sx Their present two-room flat they knew wouldn't be suitable when the baby arrived , because a child might disturb the other tenants .sx They'd already had to leave one flat because the landlady learned of the expected baby .sx Michael , who works in a banana-packing warehouse , earns +7 10s .sx a week , from which , when I saw them , they were paying +3 10s .sx a week rent .sx They had no honeymoon- couldn't afford it- and the last new dress Alice had was for her wedding .sx Yet , despite their money and home-hunting problems , they are happy .sx Alice , an orphan , met Michael at school .sx They started courting at 14 , and at 15 decided to get married as soon as they were of age .sx " I never thought of marrying anybody else , " said Alice .sx " And I don't think I've missed anything .sx " Michael said :sx " I reckon I've got the perfect wife .sx She's always here when I get home ; always kind , and cheerful- and a lovely cook .sx " But he added :sx " Marriage certainly isn't a bed of roses- especially at our age .sx The Marriage Menders .sx by DIANA NORMAN .sx SHEILA and Jim were living with Jim's parents- and none too happily .sx There always seemed tension between Sheila and Jim's mother .sx And one day it broke , in a blazing row .sx " She started shouting that I could leave as soon as I liked , " Sheila confided afterwards .sx " I said right now wasn't soon enough for me .sx " She said I never cleaned our room , which is a lie .sx And when she started on about the baby always crying , I got really wild .sx " 'Nobody's going to criticise my baby' , I said , and started slinging some of my things into a suitcase .sx " She said it was Jim's case and I wasn't taking that , and she tried to pull it out of my hands .sx Jim came in .sx He pushed me and shouted that it was his baby and I wasn't going to take her away .sx He hit me across the face and I began to scream .sx " Eventually Sheila left , taking her baby with her and went to live with her own parents .sx And so another marriage might have fallen in ruins had Sheila not had the sense to pour out her problems to the Citizens' Advice Bureau .sx She went there , hurt and angry , to ask about getting a legal separation from Jim .sx