A number of European Union countries adopted new regulations permitting divorcing international couples to choose which EU country's laws governed their divorce – provided it was a jurisdiction to which they had a close connexion, such as habitual residence or nationality. The rules would apply in 14 European Union countries, not including the United Kingdom.
Source: Press release 20 December 2010, European Union
Links: Regulation | European Council press release | European Commission press release | GPASD press release
Notes: This was the first instance of European Union countries concluding legislation under the 'enhanced co-operation' mechanism – allowing 9 or more member states to move forward on a measure that was important to them but which was blocked on the basis of the normal voting rules.
Date: 2010-Dec
A briefing paper examined pre-nuptial (or pre-marital) agreements – agreements made by couples before marriage, setting out how they wished their assets to be divided if they should divorce.
Source: Catherine Fairbairn, Pre-Nuptial Agreements, Standard Note SN/HA/3752, House of Commons Library
Links: Link removed
Date: 2010-Nov
The Supreme Court ruled that there were no grounds for overturning the terms of a prenuptial agreement (between a German heiress and her former husband) – the first time that a prenuptial agreement had effectively been found to be binding in law in England and Wales.
Source: Radmacher (formerly Granatino) v Granatino, UKSC 42 (2010), United Kingdom Supreme Court
Links: Text of judgement | Resolution press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2010-Oct
An article examined the weight given to prenuptial contracts in English law. The existing uncertainty and unpredictability of the law required legislative clarification by means of the creation of a statutory presumption of enforceability of such contracts, subject to some legislative direction and guidelines.
Source: Brigitte Clark, 'Prenuptial contracts in English law: capricious outcomes or legislative clarification?', Journal of Social Welfare & Family Law, Volume 32 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Oct
A think-tank report said that marriage did not contribute much to making relationships more stable when children were young. Analysis of data from the Millennium Cohort Study showed that although cohabiting parents were more likely to split up than married ones, there was little evidence that marriage per se was the cause of greater stability between parents, or that encouraging more people to get married would result in fewer couples splitting up.
Source: Alissa Goodman and Ellen Greaves, Cohabitation, Marriage and Relationship Stability, Briefing Note 107, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Briefing Note | IFS press release
Date: 2010-Jul
An article examined trends, patterns, and determinants of intermarriage (and partnership), comparing patterns among men and women and among different ethnic groups.
Source: Raya Muttarak and Anthony Heath, 'Who intermarries in Britain? Explaining ethnic diversity in intermarriage patterns', British Journal of Sociology, Volume 61 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Jun
An article said that the fact that men as well as women could be victims of forced marriage, in a small number of cases, had escaped the attention of policy-makers and activists.
Source: Yunas Samad, 'Forced marriage among men: an unrecognized problem', Critical Social Policy, Volume 30 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-May
A think-tank report said that young children's cognitive or social and emotional development did not appear to be significantly affected by the formal marital status of their parents.
Source: Alissa Goodman and Ellen Greaves, Cohabitation, Marriage and Child Outcomes, Commentary 114, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Report | IFS press release | Nuffield Foundation press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Apr
An article used a sample of adults (from the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study) who were in a partnership (married or cohabiting) in the 1991 Census of England and Wales, and then explored whether these individuals were living with the same partner in 2001. Marital partnerships were found to be more stable, even when additional factors were taken into account.
Source: Ben Wilson and Rachel Stuchbury, 'Do partnerships last? Comparing marriage and cohabitation using longitudinal census data', Population Trends 139, Spring 2010, Office for National Statistics
Links: Article | ONS press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2010-Mar
A qualitative study examined how adults formed and managed relationships; the emotional, social, and economic stressors that could damage these relationships at various times; and how adults coped with these stresses. It sought to identify the relationship support needs of adults in different personal circumstances, and in a variety of relationship types.
Source: Janet Walker, Helen Barrett, Graeme Wilson and Yan-Shing Chang, Relationships Matter: Understanding the needs of adults (particularly parents) regarding relationship support, Research Report RR233, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Mar
An article compared the household and family structures of members of the 1958 British Birth Cohort at age 33 in 1991 and members of the 1970 British Birth Cohort at age 34 in 2004. In addition, it examined how these household and family structures for members of the 1958 cohort had changed between ages 33 and 46. Members of the 1970 cohort were more likely to be cohabiting and less likely to be married at age 34 in 2004 than members of the 1958 cohort at age 33 in 1991. In 1991, 70 per cent of 33 year-olds had given birth or fathered at least one child: but by 2004 this proportion had dropped to 62 per cent (of 34 year-olds), showing that childbearing had been delayed. Increases in divorce rates and the separation of cohabiting couples had led to an increase in the percentage of cohort members who were step-parents or lone parents.
Source: Matthew Brown and Jane Elliott, 'Family and household profiles: comparing the 1958 and 1970 birth cohorts', Twenty-first Century Society, Volume 5 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Feb
A report (published by a Christian organization) examined cohabitation statistics, using British Household Panel Survey data. It said that cohabitation was a less stable form of relationship than it had been 15 years previously, and was generally short-lived. This was particularly pronounced for couples with children. Contrary to popular opinion, cohabitation did not serve as a 'trial marriage' but instead significantly increased the odds of divorce.
Source: John Hayward and Guy Brandon, Cohabitation in the 21st Century, Jubilee Centre
Links: Report | Christian Institute report
Date: 2010-Feb
The provisional number of marriages registered in England and Wales in 2008 remained stable compared with 2007. This, together with a rise in the number of unmarried adults, resulted in the lowest marriage rates since they were first calculated in 1862.
Source: Marriages in England and Wales 2008, Office for National Statistics
Links: Report | Resolution press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2010-Feb
The British Social Attitudes survey found that people were becoming increasingly liberal in their views about how others chose to live their lives. Just 36 per cent of people thought that sexual relations between two adults of the same sex were 'always' or 'mostly' wrong, down from 62 per cent in 1983. 45 per cent agreed that it 'made no difference to children whether their parents were married to each other or just living together', up from 38 per cent in 1998: only 27 per cent disagreed, down from 33 per cent in 1998.
Source: Andy Ross and Amanda Sacker, 'Understanding the dynamics of attitude change', in British Social Attitudes: The 26th Report, SAGE Publications
Links: Summary | NatCen press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Jan