Women seem more likely to dissolve their civil partnerships than men, if new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) are anything to go by.
The statistics, which do not cover Scotland (as these figures are not available yet), show that in 2012, 57% of all civil partnership dissolutions in England and Wales were to female couples (455 dissolutions) while the remaining 43% were to male couples (339 dissolutions).
There were also more women dissolving civil partnerships than men in Northern Ireland, with six female civil partnership dissolutions and four male civil partnership dissolutions.
Overall, by the end of 2012, 3.2% of male civil partnerships in the England and Wales had ended in dissolution, while 6.1% of all female partnerships in England and Wales had ended in dissolution.
According to the ONS, higher numbers of dissolutions among female than male partnerships are also seen in other countries with same sex partnership laws, such as Norway and Sweden.
The rate of dissolution seems to be increasing too – up 20% in England and Wales in 2012. This has led some commentators to suggest that the seven year itch is now coming into play for civil partners. The Civil Partnership Act did, after all, come into force in 2005.
For legal advice on forming or dissolving a civil partnership, please complete our online enquiry form or call us on 0141 221 1919.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v2.0.
