The Unholy Alliance
Co-habiting, living together, sharing a bed, living in sin. Whatever you call it, hundreds of thousands of couples choose to set up home together without getting married. By doing so, they challenge the whole convention of marriage; they say they want their freedom and their independence: they prefer to rely on mutual trust, rather than legal bonds. Yet when their relationships break down many of them then seek the security and legal benefits of marriage: even alimony. Man Alive examines this narrowing gap between mistress and wife, lover and husband. Jeanne La Chard and Nick Ross talk to unmarried couples and to others who feel that ' free ' love has its price.
Producer TERENCE O'REILLY Editor TIM SLESSOR