International Family Law Report – the cohabitation conundrum

For literally decades there have been calls for reform of the way the law in England and Wales treats unmarried cohabitants when their relationship breaks down. They have none of the rights which married people have on divorce. This lack of rights disproportionately affects the weaker party in the relationship, particularly if a couple has children. The so-called “parental penalty” is much more severe for a woman with children whose cohabiting relationship breaks down than it would be for a married woman with children getting divorced.

Cohabitation is the fastest growing family type in the UK. In 2021, there were 3.6 million opposite sex cohabiting couples in England and Wales, up 144% from 1.5 million in 1996 (Office for National Statistics 2022). In the same year, more than half the children born in England and Wales were born to mothers who were not married or in a civil partnership with their fathers. In 2022 families in which the mother and father lived together but were not married made up 18% of all families and accounted for three-quarters of the total growth in the number of families in the UK in the last 10 years.

This report provides analysis of the position on cohabitation in England and Wales and the current state of play around the world.