Here are details of a newly published book, for further details see:
http://www.hart.oxi.net/bookdetails.asp?id=585&bnd=1
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Cohabitation, Marriage and the Law
Social Change and Legal Reform in the 21st Century
Anne Barlow, Simon Duncan, Grace James and Alison Park
Hart Publishing June 2005
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Unmarried heterosexual cohabitation is rapidly increasing in Britain and
over a quarter of children are now born to unmarried cohabiting parents.
This is not just an important change in the way we live in modern Britain;
it is also a political and theoretical marker. Some commentators see
cohabitation as evidence of selfish individualism and the breakdown of the
family, while others see it as just a less institutionalised way in which
people express commitment and build their families. Politically, stable¹
families are seen as crucial - but does stability simply mean marriage? At
present the law in Britain retains important distinctions in the way it
treats cohabiting and married families and this can have deleterious effects
on the welfare of children and partners on cohabitation breakdown or death
of a partner. Should the law be changed to reflect this changing social
reality? Or should it can it - be used to direct these changes?
Using findings from their recent Nuffield Foundation funded study, which
combines nationally representative data with in-depth qualitative work, the
authors examine public attitudes about cohabitation and marriage, provide an
analysis of who cohabits and who marries, and investigate the extent and
nature of the common law marriage myth¹ (the false belief that cohabitants
have similar legal rights to married couples). They then explore why people
cohabit rather than marry, what the nature of their commitment is to one
another and chart public attitudes to legal change. In the light of this
evidence, the book then evaluates different options for legal reform.
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Simon Duncan
Social Sciences and Humanities
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP, UK
Tel: 01274 23 5233
Fax: 01274 235295
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