As the landscape of relationships evolves, a new debate arises over the government’s proposal to extend marriage-like legal benefits to unmarried couples. The Coalition for Marriage (C4M) has voiced strong opposition to these plans, citing a recent release of statistical data that highlights a shift in marital trends.
The Office for National Statistics recently reported that 51.1% of adults in England and Wales are either married or in a civil partnership. However, C4M challenges this figure, emphasizing that it includes same-sex marriages and civil partnerships, and when these are removed, only 49.8% of adults are married to someone of the opposite sex.
C4M highlights that the traditional marriage model is diminishing, with a noticeable increase in single and cohabiting adults over the past decade. Specifically, the percentage of adults who have never married rose from 32.6% to 34.9%, while those cohabiting went from 9.8% to 10.8%.
Significant changes are evident in two age brackets: 25 to 34-year-olds, who may simply be delaying marriage, and 45 to 69-year-olds, where C4M notes a trend of marriage being entirely bypassed.
With these trends in mind, C4M questions the government’s initiative to grant cohabitating couples similar rights to those who are married. The proposal suggests that after living together for three years or having a child together, the lower earner could receive financial support from the higher earner post-breakup, unless both parties choose to opt out. Additionally, in the absence of a will, a cohabiting partner might gain the same inheritance rights as a spouse.
C4M argues that these rights are already accessible through marriage or by drafting a will. Dr. Tony Rucinski, Director of Supporter Strategy at C4M, stated, “Marriage matters not least because children need stability. Across ten years of UK household data, cohabiting parents were 3.4 times more likely to split up in any given year than married parents. And that gap holds true at every income level.”
He further explained, “Even the poorest married parents hold together slightly better than the richest cohabiting ones. Marriage is not a luxury for the comfortable, it’s what keeps a child’s home in one piece.”
C4M is calling on its supporters to engage with the government’s consultation on the matter, which remains open until August 14.
This article was originally written by www.christiantoday.com
