New data from the Office of National Statistics shows that by 2031 three out of five adults in Britain may be unmarried. The shift reflects significant changes in social and family structure.

In the light of current arguments within church and state over the definitions of marriage, civil partnerships and other live-in relationships, the Christian think-tank Ekklesia is suggesting that 'serious consideration' should be given to the abolition of legal 'marriage' and its replacement by a variety of civil partnerships through which couples could specify the type of legal commitment they wished to make to one another.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has been challenged about his view that the extension of legal rights to cohabiting couples may undermine the institution of marriage.