In Unmarried Couples, Law, and Public Policy, Cynthia Grant Bowman explores legal recognition of opposite-sex cohabiting couples in the United States. Unmarried cohabitation has increased at a phenomenal rate in the U.S. over the last few decades, but the law has not responded to the legal issues raised by this new family form. Although a majority of cohabiting unions dissolve within the first two years, many are longer in term and function like other families; a large number of children also reside in these households. If one partner dies, is injured, or leaves the family, the remaining family members are left in an extremely vulnerable position in almost every state without any type of survivors' benefits, compensation for loss of a wage-earning partner, or remedies similar to those available upon dissolution of a marriage.The author argues that the many benefits attendant upon formal marriage should be extended to cohabitants who have lived together for more than two years or give birth to a child. In order to avoid these consequences, a couple would need to opt out of them by contract.Professor Bowman reaches this conclusion after a thorough review of the history of the legal treatment of cohabitation in the United States, the inadequacy of the legal remedies available to cohabitants in most states, the now-voluminous social science literature about cohabitation, and the experience of six other countries (England, Canada, Australia, France, The Netherlands, and Sweden) that have attempted a variety of legal reforms to address the problems of cohabitants.

Unmarried Couples, Law, and Public Policy

Politics & Social Sciences

Bowman, Cynthia Grant

Sociology

Oxford University Press

Feminist Jurisprudence combines feminist theory and concrete legal issues in a way designed to introduce students to the complexity of many of today's questions and to the variety of feminist approaches available. Feminist Jurisprudence: Taking Women Seriously includes a variety of materials, drawn both from standard legal sources, like cases and statutes, and from less typical sources and other disciplines, in order to raise central questions about what equality might mean, the progress woman have made toward equality, and the routes from here to there. The goal is also to introduce the reader to the world of current feminist scholarship and activism. The presentation is feminist, though one pervasive theme is that there are many types of feminism, which may lead to different conclusions on important issues. The book includes the perspectives of women of different races, classes, and sexual orientation. The authors include diverse readings and raise questions from a variety of viewpoints.

Cases and Materials on Feminist Jurisprudence: Taking Women Seriously (American Casebook Series)

Becker, Mary

Torrey, Morrison

Women's Studies

West Group

Illinois Democratic politics has recently produced the most skilled and inspirational politician in memory . . . and has also reminded us of the need for further reform. It is fitting, then, that the latest installment of the Chicago Lives series turns to Dawn Clark Netsch, a leading reformer of Illinois politics since the 1950s and the first woman major party nominee for governor of Illinois.
Netsch was a pioneer, or the first of her gender, in almost every endeavor she undertook. From the very beginning of her career, when she led the move to desegregate Northwestern University's undergraduate dorms, her passion for social justice extended beyond the rights of women to rights for racial minorities and those of all sexual orientations. Bowman charts Dawn Clark Netsch's remarkable political career, from her work behind the scenes as assistant to Governor Otto Kerner and as a participant in the 1970 Constitutional Convention to her later service in elected office, first as Illinois state senator for eighteen years and later as Illinois comptroller, and culminating in her historic run for governor in 1994. Throughout, Netsch lost neither her genteel yet unpretentious demeanor, nor her passion for progressive politics as exemplified by her early mentor, Governor Adlai E. Stevenson.

Dawn Clark Netsch: A Political Life (Chicago Lives)

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

Northwestern University Press

Argues for legal reforms to protect couples who live apart but perform many of the functions of a family Living Apart Together is an in-depth look at a new way of being a couple and "doing family"--living apart together (LAT)--in which committed couples maintain separate residences and finances. In Bowman's own 2016 national survey, 9% of respondents reported maintaining committed relationships while living apart, typically spending the weekend together, socializing together, taking vacations together, and looking after one another in illness, but maintaining financial independence. The term LAT stems from Europe, where this manner of coupledom has been extensively studied; however, it has gone virtually unnoticed in the United States. Living Apart Together aims to remedy this oversight by presenting original research derived from both randomized surveys and qualitative interviews. Beginning with the large body of social science literature from outside the US, Cynthia Bowman examines the prevalence of this lifestyle, the demographics of people who live apart, their reasons for doing so, and how these individuals manage finances, care during illness, and many other aspects of family life. She focuses in particular detail on three key demographics--women, gay men, and the elderly--and how individuals from these groups engage in LAT behavior. She finds that while these living arrangements are more common than previously believed, there are virtually no legal protections for the people involved. Bowman concludes by proposing a number of legal reforms to support the caregiving functions LAT partners perform for each other. Living Apart Together makes an important case for formal recognition of this growing but largely overlooked family structure.

Living Apart Together: Legal Protections for a New Form of Family (Families, Law, and Society)

NYU Press

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Books by Bowman, Cynthia Grant