Featured Research

‘They thought it was weird’: when you don’t live together before marriage

27 June 2018

This article was originally published in September 2017.

Life Course Centre Director Professor Janeen Baxter recently talked to Shalailah Medhora on ABC Triple J’s Hack about living together before marriage, and how this is now the new norm.

Janeen told Hack that in the 1970s, fewer than 15 per cent of couples lived together.

‘It was quite unusual – in fact, frowned upon – to live together without marrying.’

So why have things changed now? Janeen reckons it’s got a lot to do with evolving attitudes.

‘Now there’s a lot more freedom as to how people live their lives and their personal relationships.’

The expectation of being a virgin on your wedding night isn’t so prevalent, either.

Economic factors play a role, too.

‘People are living at home for longer; they’re going on to higher education in larger numbers – all of those factors mean that entering employment for the first time is being pushed back in the life course,’ she said.

Read the complete article, here.