“Living Apart Together” - new demographic signals new social models

The UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) has defined a new social category: Living Apart Together.

Bravely, the ONS has attempted a definition. A true LAT, its report says, is “the existence of a relationship, which is understood to include a sexual relationship, between partners who each have their own separate address. They recognise themselves as a couple and are recognised as such by others. The partners in a LAT relationship may be of the same sex as well as of the opposite sex.”

The qualifications don’t end there. LATs must be unmarried, “monogamous” and in a relationship that is more than “temporary, fleeting, or casual.”

An article highlighting this in The Scotsman looks at the once-again upward trend of marriages and ‘committed co-habiting’.

It attempts to explain why “LAT” relationships are on the increase: changing employment patterns, distant relatives needing care, financial motivations, and more.

It’s quite a lengthy article but worth a read to begin to understand how relationships in British society continue to change.

Read the full article: At home with separation