Subtopic: Civil Partnerships

This bulletin presents annual statistics on civil partnerships that were formed in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2011, as well as those which were dissolved. Civil partnership statistics are analysed by sex, age, previous marital status and area of occurrence. Figures on formations for Northern Ireland, Scotland and the UK are provisional and all dissolution data are provisional.

PDF download - Civil Partnerships 2011, Pre-release access list

This article on ‘Households and families’ is the third in a series which aims to explore in more detail the different domains that have been considered as important for the measurement of National Well-being. It firstly focuses on family and household formation and then on individual aspects of these such as marriage and divorce.

The Civil Partnership Act 2004, which came into force in December 2005 allowing same-sex couples in the UK to register their relationship for the first time, celebrated its fifth anniversary in December 2010. This article examines civil partnership in England and Wales, five years on from its introduction. The characteristics of those forming civil partnerships between 2005 and 2010 including age, sex and previous marital/civil partnership status are examined. These are then compared with the characteristics of those marrying over the same period. Further comparisons are also made between civil partnership dissolutions and divorce. The article presents estimates of the number of people currently in civil partnerships and children of civil partners. Finally the article examines attitudes towards same-sex and civil partner couples both in the UK and in other countries across Europe.

PDF download: Population Trends covers population and demographic information. It contains commentary on the latest findings and topical articles on relevant subjects.

Civil Partnerships 2010, Pre-release access list