Cohabitation

Cohabitation is the state of two or more people living together in one residence. It can describe romantic partners, relatives, friends, or unrelated housemates.

Unmarried partners: Romantic partners who live together without being legally married. This is a common form of cohabitation, often discussed in relation to marriage and family life.
Common-law marriage: A legally recognized marriage formed without a formal ceremony in jurisdictions that permit it. Cohabitation alone does not create a common-law marriage, though legal rules vary by jurisdiction.
Living apart together: A romantic relationship in which partners maintain separate homes. It contrasts a committed relationship with cohabitation by keeping partners in separate residences.
Second Demographic Transition: A theory describing shifts toward later marriage, lower fertility, and more varied family forms in affluent societies. It links rising cohabitation in some societies to broader changes in partnership and family formation.
Roommate: A person who shares a home with another person, typically without being a family member or romantic partner. Roommates illustrate cohabitation based on shared housing rather than a romantic relationship.
Marriage: A legally and socially recognized union between spouses. Marriage can grant rights and duties that cohabiting partners may not automatically receive.
Solo living: A housing arrangement in which one person lives alone. It is the direct residential contrast to sharing a home with others.
Marriage law: The body of law governing the formation, rights, and dissolution of marriage. Legal definitions of marriage help explain why cohabitation has different consequences across jurisdictions.
Household: A person or group of people occupying a housing unit and sharing domestic arrangements. Cohabiting people may form one household, the unit used in housing and population statistics.
Domestic partnership: A legally recognized relationship that provides some rights to partners who are not married. Some jurisdictions offer registration as a way for cohabiting partners to secure legal recognition.

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