Number of unwed couples living together more than DOUBLES in two decades
by James Tapsfield, Mailonline:
The number of unwed couples living together in the UK has more than doubled in the last two decades.
Some 3.3 million are now cohabiting – up from just 1.5 million in 1996, according to new figures.
Although marriage is still the most common arrangement for couples, numbers have remained flat over the period and living together out of wedlock is increasingly seen as an ‘alternative’.
The details emerged in figures produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), breaking down numbers of of married, civil partnered or cohabiting couples.
They also collated information on whether they have children, and single parents.
Numbers of married or civil partner couple families have risen only slightly since 1996, from 12.64 million to 12.68 million.
Twenty years ago opposite sex married couples accounted for three quarters (76 per cent) of all families – a proportion which has now dipped to around two thirds (67 per cent).
Over the same period, the percentage for unmarried cohabiting couples increased from 9 per cent to 17 per cent.
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