Unmarried cohabiting couples and Social Security in Great Britain

Abstract

Abstract This article aims to take afresh look at the ‘cohabitation rule’ in British social security law. Given the changed social context in which the rule now operates, with cohabitation outside marriage increasingly prevalent and calls for legal recognition of ‘non-traditional’ family types growing, it is important to re-assess both the rationale for the rule itself and the way that relationships are categorized under it. It will be shown that over twenty years on from the Finer Committee's conclusion that it was not possible to dispense with it (Finer, 1974: para. 5.269), the rule continues to be problematic. Consideration is also given to recent changes to the cohabitation rule under Australian social security law, which could form a model for reform of the rule in Britain