Cohabitants, 2008

One out of four persons aged 20-79 who are in a live-in relationship are cohabitants. This is unchanged from the last survey, which was carried out in 2005-2007. In the period 1993-1995, about one out of five were cohabiting. The term “live-in relationship” refers to cohabiting or married persons. In total, 32 per cent of the survey respondents said they are not in a live-in relationship.

The highest proportion of cohabitants in relation to all those both in and not in a live-in relationship is among women between 25 and 29 years, with 44 per cent. Then follows men in the same age group with 37 per cent. The proportion drops to 20 per cent and below for both men and women aged 40 years and over.

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. Stricter requirements with regard to legal residence address mean 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. 1993-2008. Per cent
• Table 2 Proportion cohabitants, married and single, by age. Men. 1988-2008. Per cent
• Table 3 Proportion of cohabitants, married and single, by age. Men and women. 1993-2008. Per cent