Cohabitants, 2010

In the period 1993-95, 20 per cent of those living in a relationship were cohabitants. This proportion rose steadily until 2002-04, and has thereafter been 25 per cent. The term “in a live-in relationship” refers to a person who was cohabiting or married at the time of the interview. In total, 32 per cent of the respondents answered they do not live in a relationship, which is a small increase since 2009.

Gender differences vary with age

Among all the respondents aged 20-34 years, more women than men are cohabiting; 38 per cent women and 27 per cent men. In the age groups between 35 and 44 it is the opposite, with 22 and 26 per cent respectively. In the oldest age groups there are small differences.

The increase in cohabiting has stopped in the youngest age groups, and now there is only a small increase among the eldest, especially among the middle-aged.

According to interview data, the total number of cohabitants is estimated at about 300 000 couples. This is a higher estimate than figures based on registers, where it is 530 000 cohabitants. Stricter requirements with regard to legal residence address imply that cohabitants must have the same residence address in order to be classified as cohabitants in the register-based statistics, as opposed to interview surveys.

Tables:

• Table 1 Proportion of cohabitants, married and single by age. Women. 1977-2010. Per cent
• Table 2 Proportion cohabitants, married and single by age. Men. 1988-2010. Per cent
• Table 3 Proportion of cohabitants, married and single by age. Men and women. 1993-2010. Per cent