Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increasingly common in Western countries since the late 20th century, led by changing social views, especially regarding marriage. More broadly, the term cohabitation can mean any number of people living together.
To "cohabit", in a broad sense, means to "exist together". In Europe, the Scandinavian countries began this trend, although many countries have since followed.
In the United States, over the past few decades there has been an increase in unmarried couples cohabiting. As social norms have changed, such beliefs have become less widely held and some Christian denominations view cohabitation as a precursor to marriage. In recent decades, high rates of participation of women in the workforce and the widespread availability of highly effective long acting reversible contraceptives [ 11 ] has led to women making individual choices over their reproduction with decreased reliance on male partners for financial stability.
All these changes favored alternative living arrangements to marriage. In Central and Eastern Europe, during the late s and early s, there were major political changes, such as the fall of Communist governments. These societies entered a new era of increased social freedom, less rigid rules, and less authoritarian governments. They interacted with Western Europe and some became members of the European Union. As a result, the patterns of family life started to change: marriage rates have declined, and marriage was postponed to a later age.
Cohabitation and births to unmarried mothers increased, and in some countries the increase was quick. The deinstitutionalization of marriage refers to the weakening of the social and legal norms that regulate peoples' behavior in regard to marriage.
