Fewer young and more older cohabitants
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For the age group 20-24 years, the proportion of cohabitants has decreased over the last ten years. For all 30+ age groups, however, the number of cohabitants has gradually increased.
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The proportion of cohabitants among persons aged 16 to 79 years has been quite stable over the last ten years, but there are differences between age groups. For persons aged 20-24 years, the proportion of cohabitants has decreased. The reason is mainly that more persons in this age group now report that they are not in a live-in relationship. For those in a live-in relationship, nine out of ten are cohabitants.
For the age group 25-29 years, the proportion of cohabitants has been stable over the last ten years, about 40 per cent. Two out of three living as a couple are cohabitants in this age group.
Figure 1. Proportion of cohabitants 1993-2016
Cohabitants, proportion of the whole population | Cohabitants, proportion of all in a live-in relationship | |
1993-1995 | 13 | 19 |
1996-1998 | 15 | 22 |
1999-2001 | 16 | 24 |
2002-2004 | 18 | 27 |
2005-2007 | 18 | 27 |
2008-2010 | 17 | 25 |
2011-2013 | 18 | 27 |
2014-2016 | 18 | 28 |
More cohabitants over the age of 30
Half of the persons between 30 and 34 years in a live-in relationship are cohabitants. For older people, the proportion decreases by age. The proportion of cohabitants, however, has increased over the last 20 years for all 30+ age groups. For the age group 50-54 years, the proportion of cohabitants was 6 per cent 20 years ago, 10 per cent 10 years ago and is currently 17 per cent. Most people 60 years and older living as a couple are married.
Figur 2. Proportion of cohabitants in different age groups. 1993-2016
20-24 | 25-29 | 30-34 | 35-39 | 40-44 | 45-49 | 50-54 | 55-59 | 60-69 | 70-79 | |
1993-1995 | 25 | 35 | 24 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
2005-2007 | 30 | 40 | 31 | 24 | 20 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 2 |
2014-2016 | 23 | 39 | 37 | 31 | 22 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 8 | 4 |
Female cohabitants are younger than male
For persons in their 20s, the proportion of cohabitants is higher for women than for men. For the age group 30-54 years, there is no substantial gender gap, but for people above 55 years, the proportion of cohabitants is higher for men than for women.
Figure 3. Proportion of cohabitans in different age groups. Men and women. 2014-2016
20-24 | 25-29 | 30-34 | 35-39 | 40-44 | 45-49 | 50-54 | 55-59 | 60-69 | 70-79 | |
Men | 19 | 36 | 38 | 33 | 22 | 20 | 17 | 18 | 10 | 5 |
Women | 28 | 43 | 36 | 28 | 22 | 21 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 2 |
Contact
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Kirsten Dybendal
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Harald Utne
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Statistics Norway's Information Centre