We need greater awareness of cohabiting couples’ rights as numbers continue to surge

Helen Morrissey, pension specialist at Royal London comments on figures which show the number of cohabiting couples now stands at 3.4m – a 25% increase in the last decade.

“Today’s figures show the number of people choosing to cohabit is outstripping that of those choosing to marry. However, what many of these couples don’t know is that while they will live together and often raise families together like their married counterparts they don’t have the same rights when it comes to things like pensions. This means the death of a partner or the end of the relationship can leave people at very real financial risk. While there are moves to let mixed sex couples enter civil partnerships we need greater awareness of the need for cohabiting couples to plan their finances to mitigate against financial shocks.”