unmarried mothers

ONS: record number of babies being born out of wedlock

Latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) for England and Wales in 2021 show that the number of babies born to unmarried mothers and those not in a civil partnership have overtaken those born to mothers in such relationships for the first time since records began in 1845.

There were 624,828 live births registered in England and Wales in 2021, the ONS said. This includes 320,713 live births to women who were not married or in a civil partnership when they gave birth – 51.3% of the total – compared to 304,115 live births to parents who were married or civilly partnered.

Explanations given for this are couples are waiting later in life to have children, also shown by ONS statistics, leaving less time for women to be of child-bearing age leading to married mothers to have less children. As well as this, more women are choosing to not get married at all, as previously reported by Today’s Family Lawyer, contributing to the rise in unmarried mothers.

Talking of the rising number of babies born out of wedlock, Claire Burton, Legal Director at BDB Pitmans, commented:

“Whilst the statistics on society’s move towards cohabitation rather than marriage do not shock me, it might come as a shock for those choosing not to marry that they are potentially setting themselves up for difficulties in the future.

Marriage might seem ‘outdated’ or ‘just a bit of paper’ but it remains a very important piece of paper as it is only marriage/civil partnership that provides you with financial claims such as spousal maintenance and a claim over assets owned by your spouse/civil partner.

There is no such thing as a ‘common law wife’ despite what many think and we are behind much of the western world in the sphere of cohabitation rights.

Cohabitation rights have been in the press recently following the recent law commission report but the report is not enough and legislation would need to be passed by the government for things to change.”

Dal Heran, Head of Family Law at Wright Hassall, also commented:

“From birth, the mother has automatic parental responsibility for her child and this responsibility is also granted to fathers that are married to the mother.

However, if a child is born outside of marriage, then a partner must be registered on the birth certificate to be given parental responsibility – failing to do so can cause serious issues later down the line if the parents separate and a child contact dispute arises.

There is also the issue of financial provision for children following a separation, which is currently governed by the Child Maintenance Service irrespective of whether parents are married or not. This is calculated by the gross salary of the paying parent against the number of children for whom maintenance is to be paid.

That being said, unmarried parents are not afforded the same protection as those that are. The issue of where parents and children will live is usually settled in conjunction with divorce proceedings, so the same does not apply for unmarried parents during a breakup.

Given that unmarried couples do not have the same rights, this can lead to further difficulties, especially if the family home is not jointly owned and the parent who is to be the main carer is not the legal property owner. For this reason, it is always best practice to seek legal support from an experienced family law team if there is any uncertainty surrounding the issues discussed.”

The full ONS birth statistics can be viewed here.

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