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Separating from cohabitation: financial arrangements and consequences

Separating from cohabitation: financial arrangements and consequences. ESRC Gender Equality Network seminar 7 March 2008 Jane Lewis, NCB Rosalind Tennant and Jean Taylor, NatCen. Coverage of talk. Separating from Cohabitation study methods what arrangements do couples make?

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Separating from cohabitation: financial arrangements and consequences

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  1. Separating from cohabitation:financial arrangements and consequences ESRC Gender Equality Network seminar 7 March 2008 Jane Lewis, NCB Rosalind Tennant and Jean Taylor, NatCen

  2. Coverage of talk • Separating from Cohabitation study methods • what arrangements do couples make? • who does badly out of it? • how does this come about? • how far would the Law Commission proposals help?

  3. Separating from cohabitation study • conducted by NatCen for DCA • objectives: to explore arrangements made, impacts, processes, influences, role of advice and support • qualitative research: 29 in-depth interviews (Aug to Nov 05) • sample frame created from national random surveys: • ONS Omnibus to identify separated cohabitants, followed up by telephone screen • Financial Resources Survey (DWP) to identify lone parents, payers/recipients of child support, cohabitants 2-4 yrs ago, screened to identify separated cohabitants and collect more information • purposive sample selected and approached • 6 group discussions with advisors (Nov to Dec 05) • solicitors, CAB, CSA, lone parent orgs, housing and welfare rights centres, counselling, mediation

  4. Profile of cohabitants

  5. What arrangements did couples make? • divided resources by legal title or ownership • sole owned houses kept by owner • joint owned houses sold or kept and offset • savings and possessions divided by ownership • pensions not taken into account • very little independent influence of • contributions • needs including of children • equality • legal entitlement

  6. Who does badly out of it? • depends on how you assess fairness • assessed arrangements by notions of fairness emerging from the research: • ownership • contribution • equal division • equal impact • cohabitation law • divorce law

  7. Actually it doesn’t much matter how you assess fairness … • factors leading to disadvantage are fairly consistent across frameworks • disadvantage arises from: • not owning the home or other assets • making no or informal financial contributions • being financially dependent during relationship • being main carer of children • … esp from a previous relationship • having no entitlement to state support

  8. Equal Individual How does this come about? • financial arrangements during relationship Joint Unequal

  9. Equal Joint Individual Unequal Financial arrangements during relationship • unequal earnings, longer relationships, children • joint home, different contributions, joint/different accounts

  10. Equal Joint Individual Unequal Financial arrangements during relationship • both earning, no children • joint home, equal contributions, joint accounts • unequal earnings, longer relationships, children • joint home, different contributions, joint/different accounts

  11. Equal Joint Individual Unequal Financial arrangements during relationship • both earning, no children • joint home, equal contribution, joint accounts • unequal earnings, longer relationships, children • joint home, different contributions, joint/different accounts • unequal earnings, children/assets from previous relationships • sole-owned home, dependency.

  12. Equal Joint Individual Unequal Financial arrangements during relationship • both earning, no children • joint home, equal contribution, joint accounts • influence of previous relationships • retained separate homes, equal ad hoc contributions • unequal earnings, longer relationships, children • joint home, different contributions, joint/different accounts • unequal earnings, children/assets from previous relationships • sole-owned home, dependency

  13. How does this come about? • financial arrangements during relationship • evolution of cohabitation and financial arrangements • unspoken and contingent nature of ‘jointness’ • irrelevance of legal rights during relationship • not enforcing full legal rights on separation • not getting (adequate) legal advice • assets too limited to make cohabitation law work • inadequacy of current cohabitation law

  14. How far would the Law Commission proposals help?

  15. Jane Lewis : jlewis@ncb.org.uk

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