CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS FOR ALL

The extension to opposite-sex partnerships saw dozens of couples formalising their relationships

NEARLY 200 couples were ready to say ‘I do’ when the extension of civil partnerships came into force on New Year’s Eve last year. There were 167 opposite-sex civil partnerships formed in England and Wales on December 31, 2019.

That means, despite having just one day to do so, these relationships made up one in seven of the 1,161 civil partnerships formed last year.

Kanak Ghosh, Vital Statistics Outputs Branch, Office for National Statistics, said: “Next year, we expect to see further increases to the overall number of civil partnerships in England and Wales as more opposite-sex couples choose to become civil partners.

“Meanwhile, just under 1,000 same-sex couples also chose to form a civil partnership during 2019, a small increase from the previous year.

“Around one in five of those forming same-sex partnerships in 2019 were over the age of 65, a noticeable increase since 2013 where it was only one in 25.”

There were 994 same-sex civil partnerships formed in England and Wales in 2019.

This was up 4% from 956 in 2018 and up 10% from 908 in 2017.

However, civil partnerships formations in 2019 remained 82% lower than in 2013 - the introduction of same-sex marriages in March 2014 led to more couples choosing to marry instead.

The increase in same-sex civil partnership formations in 2019 was driven by a 15% increase in the number of female partnerships.

The number of partnerships between men fell slightly by 1.8%.

As a result, while the majority (61%) of same-sex civil partnerships in 2019 were still between men, that was down from 65% in the previous year.

However, since civil partnership dissolutions were first recorded in 2007, more dissolutions have occurred between female couples than male couples.

This is despite the fact, historically, a greater number of men have formed civil partnerships.

There were 916 same-sex civil partnerships dissolutions granted in England and Wales in 2019, down from 927 in 2018.

Of these, 54% were to female couples.

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