Civil Parnterships Grow as Marriage Declines

The Guardian newspaper reports that the number of people who are married or in a civil partnership has fallen below fifty per cent of the over sixteens for the first time since the early nineteen seventies.  Heterosexual marriage continues its slow decline.  But same-sex marriages have increased, with the estimated number of people in these marriages at 167,000 in 2022, up from 26,000 in 2015.  And civil partnerships as a modern replacement for an institution that many LGBTQIA+ people and feminists feel is predicated on the historic enslavement of women, has continued to grow.  Estimates for civil partnerships have almost doubled over the last decade, from 120,000 in 2012 to 222,000 in 2022, the Office for National Statistics said.  Couples living together but not in a marriage or civil partnership increased to more than a fifth – from 19.7% in 2012 to 22.7% in 2022 – equivalent to 5.4 million people in 2012 and 6.8 million people in 2022.  David Lillywhite, a partner at Burgess Mee family law, said: “Unfortunately, many couples still believe that simply by living with their partner they will automatically be entitled to a share of the other’s wealth or receive financial support from them when the relationship breaks down. The reality is very different and can often come as something of a shock.   This area of law is crying out for reform," he concluded.