The Marriage Gap: Let’s De-stigmatise Personal Choice
The Centre for Social Justice have produced a report analysing the differing outcomes for children and parents based on whether the parents were married or not. The so-called ‘Marriage Gap’.
You can read the report here.
In our experience, all the couples we meet, whether married or not, take the decision to separate extremely seriously and after very careful deliberation. Where government reform is urgently needed is in redressing the financial impact of the so-called ‘Marriage Gap’.
Many cohabiting couples still believe there is such a thing as a ‘Common Law Marriage’, giving them financial redress against one another should the relationship end. However, there is no such thing as a common law marriage under English law, and the only financial claim available for most cohabiting couples relates to the needs of any children they may have, not to their own. Couples can enter into cohabitation agreements, but many are unaware these are available or that they are even needed.
We want to de-stigmatise divorce, but also de-stigmatise personal choice. The main point about separation, whether married or not, is that each couple is able to work fairly and constructively together to reach a solution which works for both adults and any children. Staying in an unhappy relationship, whether married or not, does no-one any good.
Author Name: Editor
Published content by The Divorce Surgery Editorial Team.
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