Labour urged to keep promise to give cohabiting couples greater rights ahead of manifesto launch

Labour urged to keep promise to give cohabiting couples greater rights

As the Labour Party prepares to launch its manifesto, Kate Daly, co-founder of amicable – an online divorce service for couples – has called on the party to fulfill its promise to provide separating cohabiting couples with greater rights.

With 3.6 million cohabiting couples in England and Wales, Daly highlighted the significant imbalance in rights between divorcing spouses/civil partners and cohabiting couples. She emphasized the challenges faced by many cohabitees, particularly women, who are left with no safety net on separation, especially if the home is not in joint names.

At the Labour Party conference last October, Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry committed to reforming the law on cohabiting couples, acknowledging the lack of rights for women in such relationships. Thornberry’s speech focused on ensuring that no woman is left without rights or financial protection when a cohabiting relationship ends.

Advocates for change, including campaigners and MPs on the Women and Equalities Committee, have long called for reform, pointing to the financial hardships faced by cohabiting couples under the current “out of date” law. The British Social Attitudes Survey revealed that nearly half of the population wrongly believes in the concept of a common law marriage for cohabiting couples.

Despite recommendations from the Law Commission in 2007 for financial relief on separation based on each partner’s contributions to the relationship, successive governments have failed to implement these reforms. The recent proposals from the Women and Equalities Committee underscore the urgent need for legal protections for cohabiting partners, particularly for women from marginalized backgrounds or those in religious-only marriages.

As the number of cohabiting couples continues to rise, it is essential for Labour to prioritize the rights and protections of these individuals in their manifesto, ensuring that cohabiting couples are afforded the same legal recognition and support as married couples and civil partners.