Cohabitation

Definition

Unmarried couple in a sexual relationship who live together

2010 - % of dependent children in single parent families

22%

2010 - % of dependent children in opposite sex cohabiting families

9%

2010 - % of dependent children in married couple families

69%

2020 - % of dependent children in lone parent families

21%

2020 - % of dependent children in opposite sex cohabiting families

15% (fast growing family type)

2020 - % of dependent children in married couple families

64%

Number of cohabiting hetero couples in Britain

3.5 million

Number of cohabiting queer couples in Britain

120,000

Proportion of adults cohabiting

1 in 7 (double that of 1996)

Proportion of ‘serial cohabitants’ (have had one or more previous cohabitations)

1/5

Causes of cohabitation

• Declining stigma attached to sex outside of marriage

• Age

• Women’s career opportunities

• Secularisation

Causes of cohabitation - declining stigma attached to sex outside of marriage

• 1989 - 44% of people believed that pre-marital sex is not wrong at all

• 2012 - 65% of people believed that pre-marital sex is not wrong at all

Causes of cohabitation - age

• Young couples are more likely to accept cohabitation

Causes of cohabitation - more career opportunities for women

• Less need for financial security of marriage so more freedom to cohabit

Causes of cohabitation - secularisation

• Young people with no religion more likely to cohabit than those with a religion

Cohabitation as a trial marriage

Chester (1985)

Coast (2006)

• Cohabitation can be viewed as a trial marriage, with the view to marry and have children if the relationship goes well

• Can sometimes be due to waiting for a divorce

• For others it’s a permanent alternative to marriage

• 75% of cohabiting couples say they expect to marry each other

Bejin (1985)

• Cohabitation among young people represents a conscious attempt to create a more personally negotiated and equal relationship than conventional patriarchal marriages

Shelton and John (1993)

• Women who cohabit do less housework than those who are married