Living Apart Together in Spain. Different Meanings According to Life Stage: Choice or Constraints?

Momoko Nishikido , Queen's University Belfast
Teresa Castro Martin, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (csic)

In 2020, over half of Spanish women and two-thirds of Spanish men in prime reproductive ages (25-34) were not co-residing with a partner. However, roughly 25% of all women and 20% of all men between these ages had an intimate partner residing in a separate household—thus, were in a living-apart-together (LAT) relationship. Revisiting an earlier study by Castro-Martin and colleagues (2008), we examine the role of LAT relationships in present-day Spain. Based on the recent 2018 Spanish Fertility Survey, we examine the prevalence, determinants, and meanings of LAT (relative to cohabitation/marriage) by life stages using multinomial logistic regressions. We extend the previous study by including men, women aged 35-55, and short-term intentions to cohabit. The paper provides an update of nearly two decades, during a time where cohabitation is no longer a marginal family form, non-marital childbearing is rising, and leaving the parental home continues to be delayed. Our findings suggest LAT in the early life stage serves as a transition phase before cohabitation and is predominantly due to economic constraints faced by young Spanish men and women. In the later life stage, LAT serves as an alternative partnership form emphasizing personal autonomy; in particular, having cohabited or having children from a previous relationship deters co-residence. Throughout the life course, we find men's economic instability and women's high educational attainment to be associated with higher likelihoods of being in a LAT relationship over cohabitation or marriage.

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 Presented in Session P1. Postercafe