Americas Canada Canadian laws on the recognition of unmarried cohabitation for legal purposes vary significantly by province/territory; and in addition to this, federal regulations also have an impact across the country (see Common-law marriage#Canada). Family formation has undergone significant changes in Canada during the last decades of the 20th century, but the patterns vary widely across the country, suggesting differing cultural norms in different regions. From 1995, births to cohabiting parents have increased, particularly in
Quebec. In Canada, it is difficult to obtain exact data on the percentage of births outside marriage, because data on the marital status of mothers is collected differently across the
provinces and territories of Canada, and in some (such as
Alberta) it is not broken down in detail in regard to whether the mother was legally married at the birth of her child. As of 2012, the statistical category of "single mothers" (defined as
never married at the time of the birth) encompassed 28.3% of mothers, the category "divorced" (i.e. mothers who were unmarried at the time of birth, but had been previously married during their lives) encompassed 1%, while for 10% of mothers the marital status was unknown ("not stated"). There are, however, very significant differences by province/territory; for example in 2012, 77.8% of births in
Nunavut were listed to "single mothers", by contrast, less than 20% of mothers in
Ontario were listed in this category. as this contrasts to
criminal law which is uniform across Canada, as well as to marriage and divorce law, which is also the same across the country, under the 1986
Divorce Act (Canada) (although provinces/territories have jurisdiction over some marital issues, including the solemnization of marriage, spousal and child support, and property division). The
marital status of Canadians also varies by province/territory: in 2011, 46.4% of the population aged 15 and over was legally married; ranging from the lowest percentage of married people in Nunavut (29.7%), Northwest Territories (35.0%), Quebec (35.4%), and Yukon (37.6%); to highest in Newfoundland and Labrador (52.9%), Prince Edward Island (51.7%), Ontario (50.3%) and Alberta (50.2%). While Quebec is known for liberal family formation and cohabitation, this is a recent development: during the first half of the 20th century, family life in the province was conservative and strongly dominated by
Roman Catholicism; before 1968, there was no provincial divorce legislation in Quebec, and spouses could only end their marriage if they obtained a private
act of Parliament. One explanation of the high rates of cohabitation in Quebec is that the traditionally strong social control of the church and Catholic doctrine over people's private relations and sexual morality has led the population to rebel against traditional, conservative social values. While some provinces were early to modernize family law, in others this only occurred in the 1990s and the 21st century, such as in
Alberta, through the
Family Law Act (Alberta) which came into force in 2005. This Act overhauled family legislation, replacing the
Domestic Relations Act, the
Maintenance Order Act, the
Parentage and Maintenance Act, and parts of the
Provincial Court Act and the
Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act, which were seen as outdated. Also, the
Adult Interdependent Relationships Act (S.A. 2002, c. A-4.5) amended 69 Alberta laws. The
Canadian Prairies provinces of
Manitoba and
Saskatchewan have strong common-law spousal. regulations, imposing rights and obligations on common-law couples.
Nova Scotia has also been very slow to advance family law – it was only in 1999 that this province abolished discrimination against "illegitimate" children with regard to inheritance (through section 16 of
NS Intestate Succession Act amended in 1999). In general, provinces in Western Canada give more rights to common-law spouses than those in
Atlantic Canada and in Quebec. This may seem paradoxical, because the eastern provinces have the strongest tradition of cohabitation; according to a study "unmarried cohabitation seems to be more common in Eastern Canada than in Western Canada, which might be related to internal and international migration". (as of 2012, 48% of births in
New Brunswick, 47.1% in
Newfoundland and Labrador, and 45.2% in
Nova Scotia, were listed to "single mothers", way above the national average).
United States Cohabitation in the United States became common in the late 20th century. , 4.85 million unmarried couples were living together, and , about half of all women aged 15 to 44 had lived unmarried with a partner. In 2007, it is estimated that 6.4 million households were maintained by two opposite sex persons who said they were unmarried. In 2012, the General Social Survey found that public disapproval of cohabitation had dropped to 20% of the population. According to the 2009 American Community Survey conducted by the Census Bureau, the proportion of 30- to 44-year-olds living together has almost doubled since 1999, from 4% to 7%. Fifty-eight percent of women aged 19 to 44 had ever cohabited in data collected in 2006–08, while in 1987 only 33% had. Cohabitation is more prevalent among those with less education. "Among women ages 19 to 44, 73% of those without a high school education have ever cohabited, compared with about half of women with some college (52%) or a college degree (47%)," note the Pew study's authors, Richard Fry and D'Vera Cohn. Before the mid-20th century, laws against cohabitation, fornication, adultery and other such behaviors were common in the US (especially in Southern and Northeastern states), but these laws have been gradually abolished or struck down by courts as unconstitutional. As of December 2023, cohabitation of unmarried couples remains illegal in two states (
Mississippi and
North Carolina), while as of 2023
fornication remains illegal in two states (
Georgia and
South Carolina). These laws are almost never enforced and are now believed to be unconstitutional since the legal decision
Lawrence v. Texas in 2003. However, these laws may have indirect effects. For example, one consequence may be that one may not claim their partner as a dependent (for a tax exemption), whereas in the other states it may be possible to do so after meeting four criteria: residency, income, support and status. In 2006, in North Carolina, Pender County Superior Court judge Benjamin G. Alford ruled that North Carolina's cohabitation law is unconstitutional. However, the
Supreme Court of North Carolina has never had the opportunity to rule on it, so the law's statewide constitutionality remains unclear. On 13 December 2013,
US Federal judge Clark Waddoups ruled in
Brown v. Buhman that the portions of Utah's anti-
polygamy laws which prohibit multiple cohabitation were unconstitutional, but also allowed Utah to maintain its ban on multiple marriage licenses. This decision was overturned by the
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, thus effectively recriminalizing polygamy as a felony. In 2020, Utah voted to downgrade polygamy from a felony to an
infraction, but it remains a felony if force, threats or other abuses are involved. Unlawful cohabitation, where prosecutors did not need to prove that a marriage ceremony had taken place (only that a couple had lived together), had been a major tool used to prosecute polygamy in Utah since the 1882
Edmunds Act.
Latin America Cohabitation in Latin America is becoming more common. Indeed, although this is a largely
Roman Catholic region, it has the highest rates of non-marital childbearing in the world (55–74% of all children in this region are born to unmarried parents). In Mexico, 18.7% of all couples were cohabiting . Among young people, the figures are much higher. As of 2000, in
Argentina 58% of births were to unmarried women. Recent data shows figures for non-marital childbearing to be 74% for
Colombia, 69% for
Peru, 68% for Chile, 66% for Brazil and 55% for Mexico.
Asia Nepal In
Nepal, living together is socially acceptable only after marriage. However, cohabitation is an emerging trend in urban areas of Nepal. Reports have shown that there may be significant number of unmarried couples cohabiting in cities, especially in the capital,
Kathmandu. Even when unmarried couples cohabit they either prefer to remain anonymous or pose themselves as a married couple. Cohabitation is not recognized by the law of Nepal and there is no special provision to secure the right of cohabitants in Nepalese law.
Bangladesh In Bangladesh, there are no laws prohibiting cohabitation but it is still socially unacceptable. However, cohabitation is becoming more common in urban areas due to western influence. An unmarried couple may feel immense pressure to marry by their family, and will probably choose to live as if they were married and, if exposed, can be expelled from housing or university. Cohabitation has become tolerant in recent years, especially among youths.
China In China, cohabitation has become popular among young adults. One study shows that the cohabitation rate before first marriage was over 20% for those born after 1977. Another recent study shows that cohabitation increases the divorce likelihood for those married in the early-reform period, but premarital cohabitation has no effect on divorce for those married in the late-reform period in China.
India Cohabitation in India had been historically a taboo in traditional Hindu and Muslim societies. However, recently, this is more acceptable and relatively frequent in the middle and upper classes in the major cities and other urban areas, but is not as common in rural areas and smaller rural towns which are more social conservative. Legally recognised as
Live-in relationships, they have been legal in India ever since independence. Recent Indian court rulings have ascribed some rights to long-term cohabiting partners. Female live-in partners have protection rights under
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 subject to following conditions as laid by Honourable
Supreme Court of India in case of
D. Velusamy v D. Patchaiammal: • The couple must hold themselves out to society as being akin to spouses. • They must be of legal age to marry. • They must be otherwise qualified to enter into a legal marriage, including being unmarried. • They must have voluntarily cohabited and held themselves out to the world as being akin to spouses for a significant period of time. On 12 June 2020, the Uttarakhand High Court reiterated in the case of Madhu Bala v. State of Uttarakhand and others (Habeas Corpus Petition No. 8 of 2020) that consensual cohabitation between two adults of the same-sex is legal and akin to an opposite sex relationship.
Indonesia In Indonesia, an Islamic penal code proposed in 2005 would have made cohabitation punishable by up to two years in prison, but failed to pass. The practice is still frowned upon, and many low-end hotels and boarding houses have been raided by police for allowing unmarried couples to share a room.
Japan In Japan, according to M. Iwasawa at the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, less than 3% of females between 25 and 29 are currently cohabiting, but more than one in five have had some experience of an unmarried partnership, including cohabitation. A more recent Iwasawa study has shown that there has been a recent emergence of non-marital cohabitation. Couples born in the 1950s cohort showed an incidence of cohabitation of 11.8%, where the 1960s and 1970s cohorts showed cohabitation rates of 30%, and 53.9% respectively. The split between urban and rural residence for people who had cohabited is indicates 68.8% were urban and 31.2% were rural.
Philippines In the
Philippines, around 2.4 million Filipinos were cohabiting . The 2000 census placed the percentage of cohabiting couples at 19%. The majority of individuals are between the ages of 20–24. Poverty was often the main factor in decision to cohabit.
Iran In
Iran, the cohabitation of two people is known as 'white marriage'. According to researchers, the number of white marriages in Iranian
metropolises is increasing. Under Iranian law, which is based on
Islamic Sharia law, the cohabitation of a man and a woman outside the framework of official marriage is a crime. It is estimated that the duration of a cohabitation in Iran is between one and three years. Cohabitation has no place in Iran from traditional social, legal and
religious points of view. However, cohabitation in Iran can be explained by considering recent cultural changes in Iranian society, including the growth of
individualism,
modernity, and fluid relationships, and the gaps and conflicts between values. Various factors such as economic crises and cultural and social changes in cities are reasons for the increase in the number of cohabitation in Iran. In other words, the emergence of
capitalism, the increase of job insecurity, the emergence of moral
liberalism, the revision of cultural traditions, the anonymity of people in cities, the elimination of the concepts and functions of neighborhoods, changes in family structures and the emergence of temporary relationships are among the major reasons for white marriage in Iran. New research published by social anthropologist
Kameel Ahmady and his team under the title '''
House with Open Door:'
A Comprehensive Research Study on White Marriage (Cohabitation) in Iran'' reveals the previously concealed and multi-dimensional aspects of this phenomenon at the macro level, focusing on the
Tehran,
Mashhad and
Isfahan metropolitan areas. The research pieces argues that this phenomenon is more prevalent among educated and post-graduate young people who have migrated to metropolitan areas for work and education.
Europe In the
European Union, cohabitation is very common. In 2014, 42% of all births in the 28 EU countries were nonmarital. In the following European countries the majority of births occur outside marriage:
Iceland (69.9% in 2016),
Bulgaria (58.6% in 2016),
Norway (56.2% in 2016), and the
Netherlands (50.4% in 2016 Of couples with children, 18% were cohabiting. Of ages 18 and above in 2003, 13.4% were cohabiting. Generally, cohabitation amongst Finns is most common for people under 30. Legal obstacles for cohabitation were removed in 1926 in a reform of the
Criminal Code, while the phenomenon was socially accepted much later on. In France, 17.5% of couples were cohabiting as of 1999.). It is estimated that by 2016, the majority of births in the United Kingdom will be to unmarried parents. The
Victorian era of the late 19th century is famous for the Victorian standards of personal morality. Historians generally agree that the middle classes held high personal moral standards and rejected cohabitation. They have debated whether the working classes followed suit. Moralists in the late 19th century such as
Henry Mayhew decried high levels of cohabitation without marriage and illegitimate births in London slums. However new research using computerized matching of data files shows that the rates of cohabitation were quite low—under 5% – for the working class and the urban poor. Falling marriage rates and increased births outside marriage have become a political issue, with questions of whether the government should promote marriage or focus on the status of a parent rather than a spouse; the
Conservative Party support the former whilst
Labour Party and the
Liberal Democrats support the latter. There are also differences between
England and Wales and
Scotland, with the latter being more accepting of cohabitation.
Bulgaria In Bulgaria, there has been a rapid increase in cohabitation after the fall of Communism. The transition from communism to market economy had a great impact on the demographic behavior of the population. After the fall of Communism, the legal and social pressure to get married has declined, and the population has started to experience new life styles.
Czech Republic The marriage rates in Czech Republic have fallen dramatically during the past decades. In the 1970s to 1980s, about 96–97% of women married; in 2000 it was estimated that only 75% of women would ever marry. The
age at first marriage for women has increased from being in the range of 21.4–21.8 years in the 1970s and 1980s, In the early 1990s, predictions were made by some Czech demographers that cohabitation would increase during the next decades; and indeed, there has been a marked increase in the number of people who live in non-marital couple relations. In 2016, 48.6% of births were to unmarried women. As in other western societies, patterns of family life have been changing in Germany during the past decades. This has not created a
moral panic, but has been seen more as an ongoing social evolution. Cohabitation, divorce rates, lone parents, and people's reluctance to marry or to have children have increased. A
longitudinal survey found that union stability was significantly higher for cohabiting mothers in eastern Germany than western Germany, due to differences in German society.
Greece In
Greece, family dynamics remain conservative. The principal form of partnership is marriage, and extramarital childbearing and long term cohabitation are not widespread. For instance, in 2016 only 9.4% of births were outside marriage, which is the lowest percentage among the European Union member states. According to a 2008 study: "Greek society still remains conservative and birthing outside marriage, although protected by law, remains in many ways socially unacceptable." Despite this, there have been further legal changes providing for a modern "western" outlook on family life, including Law 3719/2008 dealing with family issues, including Article 14 of the law, which reduced the separation period (necessary before a divorce in certain circumstances) from four years to two years.
Hungary The literature on second demographic transition argues as well that highly educated women are more prone to engage in cohabitation, although the reasons are different: they are less concerned with respecting the societal norms. Some scholars argued that cohabitation is very similar to being single in the sense of not giving up independence and personal autonomy. In Hungary, cohabitation was an uncommon phenomenon until the late 1980s and it was largely confined to the divorced or widowed individuals. Among the ethnic groups, Gypsy/Roma tended to have higher rates of cohabitation, mainly due to their reluctance to register their marriages officially. Since the 1980s, cohabitation became much more frequent among all ethnic groups and it has been argued to have strongly influenced the decline in fertility. In 2015, 47.9% of births were to unmarried women. As of 2015, the share of births outside marriage was 28.7%, but this varied by statistical regions as follows:
Central Italy (33.8%),
Northeast Italy (33.1%),
Northwest Italy (31.3%),
Insular Italy (24.2%), and
South Italy (20.3%).
The Netherlands Dutch researchers have found that research participants see cohabitation as a risk-reduction strategy in a country with high relationship instability. As of 2016, 50.4% births were to unmarried women. In Norway, in 2016, 56.2% of children were born outside marriage.
Slovakia Slovakia is more conservative and religious than neighboring Czech Republic. The principal form of partnership is marriage, but extramarital childbearing and cohabitation are slowly spreading, yet this trend is not without criticism; and some view these phenomena as a threat to traditional values. In 2016, 40.2% of births were to unmarried women.
Adultery was decriminalized in 1989. Until the late 20th century, most
cantons had regulations banning unmarried cohabitation of couples; the last canton to end such prohibition was
Valais, in 1995. As of 2015, 22.5% of births were to unmarried women. Births outside marriage are most common in the French speaking part (highest percentage in the cantons of
Vaud,
Neuchâtel,
Geneva,
Jura) and least common in the eastern German speaking cantons (lowest percentage in the cantons of
St. Gallen,
Zug,
Appenzell Innerrhoden,
Appenzell Ausserrhoden).
Spain Spanish society has undergone major changes since the fall of the
Franco regime. Important legal changes which have occurred throughout the 1970s and 1980s include legalization of divorce, decriminalization of
adultery,
gender equality in
family law, and removing the ban on
contraception. The liberalization of the political climate has allowed for alternative family formation. In the mid-1990s, cohabitation in Spain was still described as a "marginal" phenomenon, but since the 1990s, cohabitation has increased dramatically in Spain. In Spain, in 2016, 45.9% of births were outside marriage.
Russia In Russia, many couples express a desire to cohabit before marriage, then register a civil marriage, and then at a later stage have a large church wedding.
Middle East The cohabitation rate in West Asian countries is much lower than in European countries. In some parts of the continent it is however becoming more common for young people. As of 1994, the rate of premarital cohabitation in Israel was 25%. Cohabitation is illegal according to
Sunni sharia law. Cohabitation, Bi'ah, is a legal status, "Yadua BetTzibbur", by the Jews
Halakha (Halacha) religious Law.
Kuwait Some legal recognition is extended to former common-law unions in Kuwait. Kuwaiti Family law applies the law of the father's, husband's or male partner's country in case of
expatriate familial disputes. Hence, if the father's country of nationality recognises common-law marriages (like the United Kingdom), matters such as
child support dues and
maintenance can be considered in a Kuwaiti court. However, out-of-marriage sexual intercourse is an offence punishable in Kuwait with a prison sentence between 6 months and 6 years if caught in action by an official or an administrative
deportation order. This meaning that common-law marriage recognition can only be practically seen in exceptional cases like where the illegitimate child was born aboard and/or former couples who have since expatriated to Kuwait. Single expat parents including expat mothers can legally sponsor their children for residency permits. Couples where one or both parties are Kuwaiti are covered by local family law and hence do not have recourse to the limited recognition of common-law marriage.
Oceania Australia In Australia, 22% of couples were cohabiting . 78% of couples who marry have lived together beforehand in 2008, rising from 16% in 1975. In 2013, 34% of all births were to unmarried women. Australia recognizes
de facto relationships. The proportion of births outside marriage varies by state/territory, being, in 2009, lowest in
Victoria (at 28%),
Australian Capital Territory (at 29%), and
New South Wales (at 30%); and highest in
Northern Territory (at 63%) and
Tasmania (at 51%).
New Zealand In New Zealand according to the 2001 census, 20.5% of couples were in
de facto relationships. In New Zealand, 23.7% of couples were cohabiting as of 2006. In 2010, 48% of births were outside marriage. Like Australia, New Zealand recognizes
de facto relationships.
Africa South Africa In South Africa, the 2011 census revealed that of South Africans aged 20 or older, 43.7% had never been married, 36.7% were married at the time of the census,
11.0% were living together like married partners. Civil marriages fell by 22,5% between 2011 and 2019 and declined by a further 31,1% in 2020. == In popular culture ==