A new book examined society's 'continued obsession' with marriage, and the flawed reasons people gave for marrying – from social pressure to financial necessity. It surveyed the many difficulties of marriage, and suggested alternative ways of living.
Source: Nicky Falkof, Ball and Chain: The trouble with modern marriage, Vision Paperbacks (020 7928 5599)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Nov
A report said that the number of cohabiting couple families increased by 65 per cent between 1996 and 2006, from 1.4 million to 2.3 million. Lone parent families (including those with non-dependent children only) increased by 8 per cent to 2.6 million.
Source: Steve Smallwood and Ben Wilson (eds.), Focus on Families: 2007 edition, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: Report | ONS press release | LSE press release | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Oct
Researchers examined the choices, circumstances, and motivations which influenced and underpinned sole and joint birth registration. Sole registrants were typically lone parents (most cohabitants registered jointly), facing high level of disadvantage (such as low qualifications, social tenancy, and the young age of the mother).
Source: Jenny Graham, Chris Creegan, Matthew Barnard, Alice Mowlam and Stephen McKay, Sole and Joint Birth Registration: Exploring the circumstances, choices and motivations of unmarried parents, Research Report 463, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2007-Sep
A study examined what unmarried parents knew about their legal rights, and examined the impact of providing legal information on knowledge and behaviour. The interviews revealed considerable confusion about unmarried parents? rights.
Source: Rosa Maria Panades, Rosyln Corney, Christopher Ayles, Jenny Reynolds and Fiona Hovsepian, Informing Unmarried Parents about Their Legal Rights at Birth Registration, One Plus One (020 7841 3660)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Jul
Royal assent was given (following a third reading) to an Act designed to provide civil remedies for those faced with forced marriage, and victims of forced marriage.
Source: Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 23 July 2007, columns 639-653, TSO
Links: Text of Act | MOJ press release | HOC research brief | Hansard (third reading)
Date: 2007-Jul
A Member of Parliament introduced a Bill designed to give legal effect to pre-nuptial agreements.
Source: Pre-Nuptial Agreements Bill, Quentin Davies MP, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2007-Jul
A survey examined the behaviour and attitudes of a group of 'legally aware' cohabitants/former cohabitants and intending cohabitants who had accessed a government website on the legal position of cohabiting couples. Respondents felt quite strongly that the law should be changed to give cohabiting couples rights and obligations more akin to marriage.
Source: Anne Barlow, Carole Burgoyne and Janet Smithson, The Living Together Campaign: An investigation of its impact on legally aware cohabitants, Research Report 5/07, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Jul
A report (by an official advisory body) said that unmarried couples who split up should (in certain cases) be given the right to make divorce-style claims for financial support from their partners.
Source: Cohabitation: The Financial Consequences of Relationship Breakdown, Cm 7182, Law Commission, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Law Commission press release | Resolution press release | Guardian report | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2007-Jul
The government published a Green Paper on proposals to require unmarried parents to jointly register the birth of their children.
Source: Joint Birth Registration: Promoting parental responsibility, Cm 7160, Department for Work and Pensions, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Green Paper | DWP press release | Fathers Direct press release
Date: 2007-Jun
An article examined recent trends in marriage. Following consistent falls in marriage rates in the last quarter of the 20th century, more recent years had seen some relatively large fluctuations in marriage numbers and rates.
Source: Ben Wilson and Steve Smallwood, 'Understanding recent trends in marriage', Population Trends 128, Summer 2007, Office for National Statistics, Palgrave Macmillan (01256 329242)
Links: Article | ONS press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-Jun
The number of adults choosing to marry fell in 2005 to the lowest level since records began in 1862, according to provisional figures. The marriage rate for men was 24.2 per 1,000 unmarried men aged 16 and over, down from 27.8 in 2004. For women, the marriage rate in 2005 was 21.6 per 1,000, down from 24.6 a year earlier.
Source: Press release 21 February 2007, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: ONS press release | Resolution press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-Feb