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Diversity and Inclusion Survey Questions: Marital Status

How Marital Status Impacts Diversity, Inclusion, Bias, and Belonging

2^nd Octobe 2024 by Mark Holt

In today’s increasingly diverse workplaces, building inclusive environments where employees feel respected, valued, and fairly treated is not just a moral imperative but a legal one as well. In the UK, workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are guided not only by best practices but also by legislation. The Equality Act 2010 enshrines the protection of certain characteristics to prevent discrimination, ensuring that individuals are treated equitably in the workplace. While Caring Responsibilites is clearly missing from the list, marital or civil partnership status is included: a facet of identity that (even with legal protection) is sometimes overlooked but plays a significant role in shaping employees’ workplace experiences.

At Divrsity, we go beyond surface-level data. We believe that to truly foster equity, organisations need to understand how the full spectrum of personal characteristics, including marital status, intersect and influence workplace dynamics. Our surveys are designed to capture this nuance, helping businesses shape informed DEI strategies. This article explores why asking about marital status is critical, how it impacts DEI efforts, and why UK businesses must incorporate it into their diversity frameworks to comply with the law and ensure fairness.

The Legal Framework: Marital Status as a Protected Characteristic

In the UK, under the Equality Act 2010, marital or civil partnership status is one of the nine protected characteristics, which include:

Age
Disability
Gender reassignment
Marriage and civil partnership
Pregnancy and maternity
Race
Religion or belief
Sex
Sexual orientation

Consequently, it is illegal for employers to discriminate against individuals based on whether they are married, in a civil partnership, or not in a relationship. This protection extends to individuals who are widowed, divorced, or separated.

Despite this legal protection, marriage and relationship status continue to be a source of potential bias and discrimination in the workplace. According to a report by the TUC (2022), women are more likely to experience negative career outcomes due to assumptions made about their marital status and childcare responsibilities. The report found that women are often assumed to be the primary caregiver, which can lead to them being passed over for promotions or given less favorable terms of employment.

By including questions on marital status in our surveys, Divrsity aims to bring these potential biases to light and provide organizations with the insights needed to create more equitable practices.

The Role of Marital Status in UK Workplaces

While conversations around diversity often focus on more visible characteristics such as race, gender, and disability, marital status plays a pivotal role in shaping how individuals interact with their colleagues, benefit from company policies, and experience inclusion or exclusion. In fact, a growing body of UK-based research has shown that family status can influence career progression, work-life balance, and even financial well-being.

According to a 2019 report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), people in non-traditional family structures (such as cohabiting couples, civil partners, and single parents) often feel that workplace policies are tailored to the needs of those in conventional marital arrangements. This mismatch can lead to feelings of exclusion and a perception that the workplace does not fully support or represent their realities.

Diversity, Inclusion, and Representation

Marital status intersects with many other characteristics, such as gender, age, sexual orientation, and socio-economic background. By including this demographic in D&I surveys, Divrsity helps organisations build a more accurate picture of the diversity present in their workforce. When companies neglect to capture data on marital status, they risk presenting an incomplete image of workplace diversity and, more critically, miss out on understanding the unique challenges faced by employees in various life stages.

For instance, an increasing number of employees in the UK are choosing not to marry but to cohabit with partners. According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of cohabiting couples has been on the rise in the UK, with over 3.5 million cohabiting couples recorded in 2020. This reflects a shift in societal norms, yet many workplace policies still focus on the traditional family unit, often marginalising those who do not fit into these models. Similarly, employees in civil partnerships may not always feel that their relationships are valued equally to marriages, despite legal recognition.

By understanding the diverse family arrangements within the workforce, organisations can ensure better representation and create a work environment that celebrates all types of family structures, fostering a sense of inclusivity and belonging.

Inclusion and Belonging

Belonging is a critical metric in workplace culture, describing the extent to which employees feel integrated and accepted within their company. Feelings of inclusion or exclusion can often be traced back to factors related to marital or civil partnership status. For example:

Single employees may feel marginalised when work events are centred around couples or family-oriented activities.
Divorced or separated employees might feel stigmatised or face intrusive questions about their personal lives.
Employees in same-sex relationships or civil partnerships may feel underrepresented in company communications and events that celebrate traditional marriages.

In fact, a 2020 report by Stonewall UK found that LGBTQ+ individuals in the workplace often feel underrepresented, particularly in organisational policies that focus solely on traditional marital relationships. Without clear recognition of civil partnerships or the inclusion of non-legally recognised relationships, many employees may feel they are forced to hide aspects of their identity, detracting from a sense of belonging.

Divrsity’s surveys reveal these gaps in inclusion by analysing marital status alongside other protected characteristics, helping companies identify areas where their workplace culture may inadvertently exclude certain groups. This data enables organisations to develop more inclusive practices, ensuring that all employees—whether single, married, divorced, or in civil partnerships—feel equally welcomed and valued.

Equity and Access to Benefits

A critical area where marital status impacts workplace experiences is in the equitable access to benefits and policies. Many UK companies provide benefits packages that heavily favour traditional married employees. For example:

Health insurance or other financial benefits may be structured around the concept of "spouses," potentially excluding cohabiting partners or those in civil partnerships.
Parental leave policies may not be designed to accommodate single parents or employees in blended family structures.
Pension plans and survivor benefits often prioritise legal spouses, which can disadvantage employees in non-traditional partnerships.

Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has highlighted the financial inequalities that can arise when workplace policies favour those in traditional marriages. Single parents, for instance, face additional financial challenges that are often not adequately addressed by standard benefits packages. Moreover, the economic disparities can be exacerbated by biased assumptions regarding employees' needs based on their marital status.

By including marital status in our surveys, Divrsity enables organisations to scrutinise how their benefits are distributed and whether all employees feel they are receiving equitable support. Data-driven insights empower HR teams to rethink their offerings, creating flexible benefits that reflect the diversity of employees' family situations, leading to more equitable outcomes.

Addressing Bias and Stereotypes

Bias can often manifest in subtle ways, particularly around assumptions about an individual’s marital status. In the UK, research from CIPD has shown that employees are often judged differently based on their family circumstances. For instance, single employees may be expected to take on more work or overtime due to the assumption that they have fewer responsibilities outside of work. Conversely, married employees, particularly women, may face assumptions about being less committed to their jobs due to potential family obligations.

Divrsity’s surveys help identify where these biases exist within an organisation. By examining patterns in how employees with different marital statuses are treated, organisations can begin to address unconscious biases that lead to unequal workloads or advancement opportunities.

For example, a single employee who is consistently asked to work late because it is assumed they have no family obligations may begin to feel burnout or disengagement, potentially affecting their career progression. On the other hand, employees with family obligations may feel stigmatised or overlooked for promotions if they are perceived as being less available for high-responsibility roles.

Supporting LGBTQ+ Employees and Civil Partners

In the UK, civil partnerships have been legally recognised since 2004, offering same-sex couples the opportunity to formalise their relationships outside of marriage. In 2019, the law was extended to allow opposite-sex couples to form civil partnerships as well, reflecting evolving societal views on partnership structures. Despite these legal changes, many LGBTQ+ employees still report feeling underrepresented in workplace policies that centre on traditional marriage.

Divrsity’s D&I surveys can reveal whether LGBTQ+ employees, including those in civil partnerships, feel that their relationships are treated with equal respect and dignity compared to traditional marriages. By including marital status and civil partnership questions in our surveys, Divrsity helps companies design more inclusive policies that embrace all forms of legal partnerships, ensuring that LGBTQ+ employees are not left behind.

Creating a Data-Driven Action Plan for UK Workplaces

When combined with verbatim responses, the insights from Divrsity’s surveys enable organisations to develop a comprehensive, data-driven Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan. This plan will include recommendations tailored to address the needs of employees with varying marital statuses, helping businesses:

Revise benefit offerings to ensure inclusivity for all types of family structures, such as extending healthcare or pension benefits to non-married partners.
Create family-friendly workplace policies that support single parents, blended families, and those in civil partnerships.
Educate managers and teams on the impact of marital status-related bias and how it can affect workplace dynamics and career progression.
Develop inclusive workplace cultures that celebrate all relationship types and personal circumstances through events, communication, and support systems.

Conclusion

In the UK, recognising marital or civil partnership status as one of the nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 is essential for building truly inclusive workplaces. By incorporating questions about marital status into DEI surveys, Divrsity helps companies gather critical data that reflects the diverse family structures of their employees. With these insights, organisations can craft policies and benefits that ensure equitable treatment for all, while fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging.

Through our commitment to data-driven analysis, Divrsity supports UK businesses in understanding the unique challenges faced by employees based on their marital status, allowing them to address inequalities and build more inclusive workplaces that comply with both legal standards and the evolving needs of a diverse workforce.

Ready to start your Diversity and Inclusion journey?
Contact Divrsity today to learn more about how our AI-driven platform can help you build a more inclusive, equitable, and belonging-focused workplace.