marital status of unmarried couples

[queeniech]

How do native speakers fill in the marital status if they are cohabiting couples with children?

Thanks.

 

[emsr2d2]

There isn't usually any need to mention children but these days many forms give the choices:

Married
Single
Cohabiting
Civil Partnership

Cohabiting means sharing with a partner but not married. Civil partnership is for homosexual couples who have gone through the civil partnership ceremony (the closest thing, at the moment, to a marriage for gay couples).

 

[queeniech]

There isn't usually any need to mention children but these days many forms give the choices:

Married
Single
Co-habiting
Civil Partnership

Co-habiting means sharing with a partner but not married. Civil partnership is for homosexual couples who have gone through the civil partnership ceremony (the closest thing, at the moment, to a marriage for gay couples).

Thanks emsr2d2

Is it correct to omit the hyphen in "Co-habiting" i.e "Cohabiting"?

 

[emsr2d2]

Thanks emsr2d2

Is it correct to omit the hyphen in "Co-habiting" i.e "Cohabiting"?

Yes. In fact, the hyphen shouldn't be there! I have edited my post to remove it. Thanks.

 

[queeniech]

Yes. In fact, the hyphen shouldn't be there! I have edited my post to remove it. Thanks.

Thanks emsr2d2

Out of curiosity, if cohabiting couples with children filled "married" in the marital status of job application forms. Do western people consider that as providing false information in their view point?

 

[emsr2d2]

Thanks emsr2d2

Out of curiosity, if cohabiting couples with children filled "married" in the marital status of job application forms. Do western people consider that as providing false information in their view point?

Well, I'm not sure what the legal standpoint would be but I don't know why anyone would write "married" when they're not. If a company is actually bothered about the marital status of its employees then I suppose they might be quite upset to find that an applicant effectively lied on their application form.

You have said again "cohabiting couples with children" in this post. I don't know what the situation is like in your country but usually the question about whether or not you have children is a separate question on application forms and in fact, on most forms, doesn't appear at all. Employers here aren't allowed to discriminate against people with children or, indeed, against cohabiting people rather than married people.

 

[queeniech]

Well, I'm not sure what the legal standpoint would be but I don't know why anyone would write "married" when they're not. If a company is actually bothered about the marital status of its employees then I suppose they might be quite upset to find that an applicant effectively lied on their application form.

You have said again "cohabiting couples with children" in this post. I don't know what the situation is like in your country but usually the question about whether or not you have children is a separate question on application forms and in fact, on most forms, doesn't appear at all. Employers here aren't allowed to discriminate against people with children or, indeed, against cohabiting people rather than married people.

In our region, people usually filled "married" or "single" due to discrimination problems. Even though discrimination is not allowed, some people think that single people with children might have family problems which would affect their job performance.

 

[MikeNewYork]

How do native speakers fill in the marital status if they are cohabiting couples with children?

Thanks.

This area has become very complicated. The answer will change from country to country and jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

In the US, 15 states (soon to be 16) recognize and license same-sex marriage. Some states recognize common law marriage. Also in the US. it is legal to ask about marriage and children, but these factors cannot be used to deny employment. So many companies no longer ask.

 

[Rover_KE]

Civil partnership is for homosexual couples who have gone through the civil partnership ceremony (the closest thing, at the moment, to a marriage for gay couples).

Gay couples needn't travel far to get married.

As of 19 August 2013, fifteen countries (Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark,[SUP][nb 1][/SUP] France,Iceland, Netherlands,[SUP][nb 2][/SUP] New Zealand,[SUP][nb 3][/SUP] Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Uruguay) and several sub-national jurisdictions (parts of Mexico and the United States) allow same-sex couples to marry. A law has been passed by the United Kingdom, effective in England and Wales, which is expected to be fully in force in 2014.
(Wikipedia)

 

[SoothingDave]

There isn't usually any need to mention children but these days many forms give the choices:

Married
Single
Cohabiting
Civil Partnership

Cohabiting means sharing with a partner but not married. Civil partnership is for homosexual couples who have gone through the civil partnership ceremony (the closest thing, at the moment, to a marriage for gay couples).

"Cohabiting" seems strange to me. "Cohabitating" is what I would say.

 

[Barb_D]

In our region, people usually filled "married" or "single" due to discrimination problems. Even though discrimination is not allowed, some people think that single people with children might have family problems which would affect their job performance.

Because it's illegal to make any sort of decision based on whether you have children, the employer here would not know whether you were married or cohabitating or single, nor would they know whether you had children.

In the US, because most employers provide insurance to their full-time employees, once you are an employee, you must be truthful about your marital status. Your spouse can be covered. Some companies do allow you to cover your "domestic partner" of either sex, but not all do. If you sa you are married and put your "husband" on your insurance and then they find out you're not married, you could be fired.

 

[Tdol]

Common-law marriage/wife/husband are terms sometimes used, but they have no validity in UK law:
Common-law marriage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Barb_D]

"Common law" is a poorly understood term in the US.
People use it in situations where it should not apply at all.

 

[BobK]

"Cohabiting" seems strange to me. "Cohabitating" is what I would say.

Possibly this is an AE/BE thing. On this side of the pond we say 'cohabiting'.

b