Cohabitation is a situation, which arises from a modern society; this seems to be a new phenomenon, which has had an impact on the marriage statistics. While the number of people marrying has decreased – ‘official figures show that in 2001, there were 6.5% fewer weddings in the UK than in 2000.That figure continued the long-term downward trend that began in 1973’ (BBC, 2003), the numbers cohabiting has increased. This is also attributed to individualisation. Lesthaeghe (1995) found that increasing cohabitation could be found within cultural traditions, which promote individual autonomy and self-fulfilment (Silva, Smart, 1999). Cohabitation began to emerge in the 70s as a precursor to marrying. In the UK, around a quarter of non-married adults aged 16-59 were cohabiting in 2000/1. Between 1979 and 2000/1 the proportion of non-married women cohabiting rose from 11% to 30%. Not all of these unions lead to marriage, as they would have in the past, in 2000/1, 14% of 16-59 year olds reported at least one cohabiting situation which did not result in marriage (Social Trends, 2003). More research has shown the replacing of marriage with cohabitation: Barlow and Probert identified evidence from Britain, which suggested a restructuring away from marriage on a large scale. They estimated that one million couples were living together without being married, with these couples seeing their situation as a long-term alternative to marriage. Some researchers have also argued that this has become a normative life stage (NFPI, 2001).
Cohabitation and the ‘love them and leave them’ aspect of individualism seem to be factors which threaten the importance of marriage in contemporary Britain. So why do people still marry? In 2000, there were 305,900 weddings in the UK - 1.6% more than in 1999 and the first time the number has increased since 1992 (Morrison, 2002). We are continually told of the 40% of marriages ending in divorce yet this means 60% of marriages do not end in divorce. ‘A special Guardian/ICM poll found the proportion of people who expected marriage to become more fashionable had doubled since 1999 - up from 19% to 41%. The in-depth coverage of Posh and Becks showbiz-style weddings in magazines such as Hello! and OK! is believed to have contributed to this surge in popularity. In the words of the editor of Brides magazine: "We've gone through the time when it was trendy not to get married, then there was a plateau, and now people want a sign of commitment (Guardian, 2002).
Another reason for couples to decide to be recognised legally is the simple fact that marriage benefits those who enter it, while cohabitation does not. While most marrying would not cite this as the reason for their decision: love, security and stability more likely to given as reasons – 62% of respondents gave love as the reason (Morrison, 2002). This is said to be due to widespread ignorance among unmarried couples: ‘a recent social attitudes survey found that 56% of people - rising to 59% for cohabitees - thought "common-law marriage" conferred the same rights as a marriage ceremony. In reality, there has been no such thing in England since 1753, and legal protection for cohabitees is minimal’ (Dyer, 2003). The English law could be said to be punitive towards unmarried consensual unions and does not give cohabitees the same rights and responsibilities towards one another as spouses. When unmarried couples separate, property disputes cannot be settles through the same channels as those used for married couples that divorce. The rights of cohabitees have to be established on the basis of property law principles that depend on how the property was acquired and if it was jointly owned. As a result, cohabitants are in a more vulnerable situation than married couples if the relationship were to break down (Hantrais & Letablier, 1996). This reflects the part the state plays in the private lives of
couples: marriage is seen as a relationship between two individuals and the state, the famous words of Princess Diana come to mind – ‘there were three of us in this marriage’. Marriage is viewed as a public political institution due to the policies in place, which support and promote the marital relationship. Wills, inheritance, rights of property, pensions, separation, children and access to them are all affected by the decision to marry. For example, regarding situations involving the next of kin, hospitals will give information to blood relatives and spouses yet would be reluctant to give the same information to people who are not blood spouses/relatives i.e. the partner of a cohabiting couple. While a married couple will have automatic parental responsibility of their children, only the mother in an unmarried couple will have this responsibility, the father has to have the mother’s agreement to share this. (MacErlean, 2003).
New Labour has prioritised marriage and has shown this in the policies, which have been introduced during their time in government. A change to sex education or “sex and relationship education” as it is now known, came into place in November 2000. Guidelines highlighted the need to establish the importance of marriage for family life, stable and loving relationships, respect, love and care. The guidelines stated that: ‘pupils aged seven to 11 "will ... be aware of different types of relationship including marriage". Between 11 and 14 they "will learn ... the role and importance of marriage in family relationships" as well as the roles and responsibilities of parents. Aged 14 to 16: "Pupils will learn ... the nature and importance of marriage for family life and bringing up children". David Blunkett, then in the capacity of Education and Employment Secretary stated," "The commitment that is made by people through marriage is a way of emphasising ... stability to children," (BBC 1999). The now infamous consultation paper Supporting Families published in 1998: a policy paper on marriage and the family caused a backlash on publication. This paper proposed to bring in: ‘measures to strengthen the institution of marriage, including an enhanced role for marriage registrars’ it also aimed to provide support for all families, including better advice on adult relationships’. The state also intended to mediate between those couples intending to divorce by setting up information meetings before divorce to increase the chance of saving more marriages (Home Office, 1998). Labour were criticised for being intrusive into the personal relations of individuals and for being a nanny state. The government continue to promote marriage over cohabitation. An Army circular sent to British troops stated that those with unmarried partners would not receive compensation if they were killed in the recent and ongoing conflict in Iraq. Barbara Roche, the Minister for Social Exclusion, announced that gay couples were to be offered equal partnership rights to married couples, but these rights were not offered to unmarried heterosexual couples (Hoggard, 2003)
The benefits of being married as opposed to merely living together have been established. The state normalises heterosexuality through the institution of marriage by excluding homosexuality from this convention. Diane Richardson discusses the private and public recognition given to married relationships, which is not accorded to other sexualities. This recognition acts in the form of citizenship, a citizenship, which is most strongly linked to marriage and the family. These citizenship rights entail: civil/legal, political, social, national, cultural and consumerist citizenships. This leads to the issue of those who cannot marry, those who don’t fit into the coherent, natural, fixed and stable category which is assumed to be universal and monolithic: heterosexuality (Richardson, 1996) What citizenship rights do these groups have if they cannot marry? Richardson examines this in ‘Theorising Heterosexuality’. Homosexuals are said to enjoy recognition within consumerist form of citizenship: ‘ as consumers with identities and lifestyles which are expressed through purchasing the appropriate products’ (Richardson, 1996). The ‘pink pound’ as it’s referred to recognises this characteristic of the gay community (BBC, 1998). This citizenship can fail to be acknowledged though, Sandals – a Caribbean holiday resort has been criticised for advertising their holidays as only for mixed-sex couples (Hinsliff, 2003). Social citizenship has been the most problematic for those non-married couples, the Local Government Act of 1988, which described non-heterosexual families as ‘pretended family relationships’ (Weeks et al, 1999) and Section 28 which prohibited local authorities from "promoting" homosexuality or gay "pretended family relationships", and prevented councils spending money on educational materials and projects perceived to promote a gay lifestyle, contributed to the problems experienced. Citizenship rights, which apply to married couples, have recently been extended to gay and lesbian partnerships. The changes, which apply in England and Wales, allow a registered partner to benefit from a dead partner's pension, grant next-of-kin rights in hospitals, and give the same exemption as married couples have from inheritance tax on each other's estate. They also have the right to register their partner's death and be able to inherit a tenancy of a rented home. Couples can have access to these rights by signing an official document at a register office in front of the registrar and two witnesses (Dyer, 2003). Heterosexual cohabiting couples are denied from these same rights as it is argued, that they can acquire the same legal status by marrying.
This essay has established that marriage is an important institution for the state, in terms of citizenship and as an institution for bringing up families. It is also an important institution for another facet of Britain: capitalism. Various businesses make their money from the promotion of marriage in the UK. Magazines, websites and holiday companies are just a few of the businesses involved in the substantial empire that is the wedding industry. The cost of an average wedding in Britain is estimated to be £61 per minute - £25,500 in total, in the 70’s the average cost for a wedding was £43 (Guardian, 2003). Chrys Ingraham discusses the relationship between capitalism and the wedding industry in her ‘White Weddings’ (1999) article. The wedding dress becomes an object, which is fetishized -an important part of capitalism. This causes an alienation of social relations as the need for the ultimate commodity – a designer wedding dress – becomes an all-consuming pursuit (Ingraham, 1999). Celebrity weddings are also big news for capitalism as has been mentioned previously. The appearance of a celebrity couple on the cover of OK! can push up the sales as well as benefiting bridal shops etc as individuals rush to copy their favourite star. Capitalism hides the real side of the wedding industry by romancing the heterosexuality involved in marriage. Ingraham draws attention to the way this ideal masks the ways in which it protects the racial, class and sexual hierarchies in place: ‘practices reinforcing a heterogendered and racial division of labour, white supremacy, the private sphere as woman’s work, and women as property are reinforced’ (Ingraham, 1999) within the wedding industry.
In conclusion, whilst it cannot be argued that marriage is on the wane, this does not necessarily mean that it is any less important than it once was. What we have witnessed is a change in attitudes towards marriage. It is no longer a familial process in which individuals have little or no say but a union in which both parties enter willingly and for personal reasons – love and support for example. The individualisation of the society in which we inhabit means a lessening influence of the state on personal lives whilst, the way in which personal relationships are conducted have also changed, cohabitation is now a stage many people enter before marriage. The statistics show that marriage is decreasing but this does not measure the perceived importance of marriage to individuals in contemporary Britain. What is obvious though is the critical importance of this institution to the state and capitalism, in particular, the wedding industry. Marriage is still important in contemporary Britain although to whom and why, raises different answers.
