OECD Family Database http://www.oecd.org/els/family/database.htm OECD - Social Policy Division - Directorate of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs SF3.3. Cohabitation rate and prevalence of other forms of partnership Definitions and methodology Partnership status is measured here through the distribution of people in private households by their status in their current relationship. The population is divided according to three types of partnership status: People living with a partner as a married couple or in a civil or registered partnership, that is, people living with a partner in the same household as a part of a married couple or in a civil or registered partnership (see the notes to table SF3.3.A for exceptions) People living with a partner as a cohabiting couple, that is, people who are living with a partner in a consensual union but who are not legally married to the partner and are not in a registered partnership with the partner. In those countries that allow cohabiting couples to apply for ‘de facto’ or ‘common law’ marriages or partnerships (e.g. Australia, Canada and New Zealand), people in such partnerships are included here under ‘cohabiting couples’. People not living with a partner, that is, people who are not living in a household with a partner, either as a part of a married couple or in a civil or registered partnership, or as a partner in a cohabiting couple. This includes single parents who live with at least one child but without a partner, people who are married or in a civil or registered partnership but no longer live with their partner, people who were previously married or in a civil or registered partnership but are divorced or have seen the partnership dissolved, people who are widowed or are surviving a partner from a civil or registered partnership, and people who are single (never married and never in a civil or registered partnership) and who do not live with a partner. Same-sex couples are generally classified according to the status of their partnership as defined above (i.e. same-sex couples that are married or in a civil or registered partnership are included under ‘married couple’ or ‘couple in a civil or registered partnership’, as appropriate; see the notes to table SF3.3.A for exceptions). Data is presented both for the adult population (20+ year-olds) and for young adults (20-34 year-olds). To illustrate how partnership status may differ with socio-economic status, data for the adult population (20+ year-olds) are also presented for some OECD countries by level of educational attainment, that is, as the distribution of people with a given level of educational attainment by their partnership status. Educational attainment is measured using a three-part ordinal variable (low, medium and high) based on the ISCED 97 classification system: ‘low education’ corresponds to a highest level of educational attainment at ISCED 97 levels 0-2 (pre-primary, primary or lower secondary education, plus those with no formal education); ‘medium education’ corresponds to highest level of educational attainment at ISCED 97 levels 3-4 (upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education); and ‘high education’ corresponds to a highest level of educational attainment at ISCED 97 levels 5-6 (first and second stage of tertiary education). A second main measure concentrates on the distribution of couple households by partnership status and by the presence of children. Couple households are divided into two types: Married couple or couple in civil or registered partnership households, with the definitions of married couples and couples in a civil or registered partnership as above. These households are further disaggregated into those that do and do not include children, with children generally defined as resident children (biological, step- or adoptive-children) under age 25. Cohabiting couple households, with the definitions of cohabiting couples as above. Again these households are further disaggregated into those that do and do not include children as defined above. Other relevant indicators: Family size and composition (SF1.1); Fertility rates (SF2.1); Mean age of mother at first childbirth (SF2.3) and Share of births outside marriage (SF2.4); and Marriage and divorce rates (SF3.1) 1 Updated: 27-11-16 OECD Family Database http://www.oecd.org/els/family/database.htm OECD - Social Policy Division - Directorate of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Data on couple households include ‘one family nucleus’ households only, with a family nucleus defined as two or more people who belong to the same household and who are related either through a marriage or partnership or as a parent or child. Households that contain two or more family nuclei are excluded regardless of whether or not a couple is present, as are households that do not contain any couples (regardless of the number of family nuclei). Key findings Table SF3.3.A. Partnerships and cohabitation, 2011a Distribution (%) of people in private households by partnership statusb in current relationship and age group 20+ year olds 20-34 year oldsc Living with a partner: Not living Living with a partner: Not living with a partner: with a Total Married or Cohabiting partner Total Married or Cohabiting Total Living with in a civil or in a civil or at least registered registered one parent partnership partnership Australia (c) 63.79 53.59 10.20 36.21 47.06 29.41 17.65 52.94 .. Austria 58.80 49.10 9.70 41.20 39.11 22.15 16.97 60.89 33.82 Belgium 62.15 53.51 8.64 37.85 45.28 29.33 15.94 54.72 31.34 Canada (d) 66.89 54.46 12.43 33.11 55.34 33.55 21.79 44.66 .. Chile .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Czech Republic 51.17 45.39 5.79 48.83 30.78 21.32 9.46 69.22 36.20 Denmark 64.15 50.02 14.12 35.85 50.54 21.86 28.68 49.46 10.67 Estonia 53.93 37.30 16.64 46.07 45.31 17.81 27.50 54.69 26.46 Finland .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. France 64.14 49.41 14.72 35.86 50.42 21.89 28.53 49.58 22.08 Germany 62.61 53.91 8.69 37.39 39.53 22.15 17.39 59.74 27.54 Greece 60.23 58.52 1.71 39.77 33.13 29.24 3.90 66.87 45.43 Hungary 56.15 45.83 10.32 43.85 39.34 21.97 17.37 60.66 41.48 Iceland 59.15 46.78 12.36 40.85 36.52 17.21 19.31 63.48 29.44 Ireland 58.99 50.23 8.75 41.01 37.80 21.40 16.40 57.25 28.18 Israel .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Italy 58.39 53.22 5.17 41.61 28.90 22.02 6.88 71.10 53.46 Japan .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Korea .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Latvia 47.87 38.55 9.32 52.13 33.13 20.71 12.41 66.87 41.78 Luxembourg 60.07 54.60 5.48 39.93 38.56 29.10 9.46 61.44 34.15 Mexico .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Netherlands 66.82 53.10 13.72 33.18 46.76 21.40 25.35 53.23 23.70 New Zealand (e) 65.88 49.87 16.01 34.12 50.31 24.80 25.51 49.69 .. Norway 60.96 46.07 14.89 39.04 41.99 18.94 23.05 58.01 25.54 Poland 57.72 55.60 2.12 42.28 37.60 34.20 3.40 62.40 45.65 Portugal 65.98 57.31 8.66 34.02 44.69 28.58 16.11 55.31 42.19 Slovak Republic 48.00 44.04 3.96 52.00 19.59 15.90 3.69 79.68 61.51 Slovenia 52.20 44.66 7.54 47.80 24.41 14.64 9.77 75.59 52.60 Spain 61.43 52.55 8.88 38.57 38.43 22.51 15.92 61.57 45.02 Sweden 62.84 43.63 19.21 37.16 46.98 17.57 29.41 53.02 21.90 Switzerland 64.15 53.46 10.69 35.85 42.43 25.40 17.03 55.00 31.44 Turkey .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. United Kingdom 60.68 48.42 12.26 39.32 43.70 21.84 21.86 56.30 24.99 United States (f) 59.50 52.40 7.10 40.50 41.90 29.75 12.15 58.11 29.68 OECD-28 average 59.81 49.84 9.97 40.19 40.34 23.45 16.89 59.34 34.65 Bulgaria 60.18 50.79 9.39 39.82 43.93 24.41 19.51 56.07 34.56 Croatia 60.08 57.19 2.89 39.92 38.60 34.09 4.51 61.40 51.26 2 Updated: 27-11-16 OECD Family Database http://www.oecd.org/els/family/database.htm OECD - Social Policy Division - Directorate of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Cyprus (g,h) 65.14 60.71 4.43 34.86 42.28 33.11 9.16 57.72 37.66 Lithuania 56.17 49.86 6.31 43.83 39.75 31.03 8.73 60.25 38.66 Malta 61.79 59.23 2.56 38.21 34.61 30.44 4.16 65.39 55.11 Romania 62.74 58.37 4.37 37.26 47.19 40.44 6.75 52.75 35.70 EU average 59.27 50.93 8.35 40.73 39.27 24.86 14.42 60.49 37.15 Eurozone average 59.15 51.10 8.05 40.85 37.87 24.08 13.79 61.77 38.93 a) Data for New Zealand refer to 2013 b) 'Not living with a partner' covers all people (living in private households) who report they are not currently living in a household with a partner, either as a part of a married couple or in a civil or registered partnership, or as a partner in a cohabiting couple.