Title page
Contents
Acknowledgements 6
Abstract 7
Resume 7
1. Introduction 8
2. Changes in family living arrangements: how are children impacted? 10
2.1. The share of children with non-married parents increases 10
2.2. Over 1 in 6 children live in single-parent households 12
2.3. 1 adolescent in 10 live in a stepfamily 13
2.4. Increased complexity and fluidity of family living arrangements 14
2.5. Single-parent families are more likely to experience poverty 15
3. Supporting all children with equal rights 20
3.1. Registered partnership as an alternative to marriage and informal cohabitation 21
3.2. Make tax and benefit eligibility rules more neutral vis-a-vis parental marital status 23
3.3. Set criteria to assess the economic resources of cohabiting couples 27
3.4. Grant equal rights to parental leave 28
3.5. Strengthen protection in the event of the death of an unmarried parent 29
3.6. Adapt child maintenance support to modern family living arrangements 32
4. Conclusion 37
References 39
Table 1. Recognition of registered partnerships and cohabitation 22
Figure 1. Most children live in two-parent families 11
Figure 2. Increasing proportion of children with two cohabiting parents 11
Figure 3. Trends in the share of births outside of marriage 12
Figure 4. 1 in 6 children live with a single parent 13
Figure 5. Young adolescents in stepfamilies 14
Figure 6. Young adolescents commuting between the two homes of their separated parents 15
Figure 7. Single-parent families are on average three times more likely to be poor than two-parent families 17
Figure 8. Tax treatment and eligibility to social assistance by legal family form, 2016 24
Figure 9. Rights to parental leave of cohabiting partners 29
Figure 10. Protections in the case of death 31
Figure 11. In case partners split up, do statutory rules on alimony to former partners apply? 33
Boxes
Box 1. Children's family living arrangements: household categorisations and their limits 17
Box 2. The cohabitation bonus in OECD countries 25
Box Figures
Figure B2.1. Net income gap between married and cohabiting couples 26