Married and Unmarried Cohabitation: The Case of Sweden, with Some Comparisons

There are many implicit and explicit definitions of terms like cohabitation. The author uses a phenomenological definition, which means that unmarried cohabitation is used for the phenomenon of living together under marriage-like conditions but without a marriage. It is shown that there has been an enormous increase in the number of unmarried cohabiting couples in Sweden and Denmark and a decrease in the marriage rate. Data presented show that Sweden and Denmark seem to be some years before many other countries. Is unmarried cohabitation a deviant behavior? This question is discussed and the answer is given that in Sweden it is not. Arguments are given for the idea that an increase in the number of unmarried cohabiting couples might result in more happier marriages.