Living Apart Together
A multi-method analysis
About this study
Despite the fact that couples 'living apart together' constitute 10% of the population, until now they've been under-researched and over-looked by Government policy.
This fascinating study will collect demographic data and explore important questions such as:
what are the reasons for a couple living apart together?
is this a new type of family or simply a 'stepping stone' to co-habitation, marriage or civil partnership?
how do couples living apart together view their relationship? What are the benefits and drawbacks to being in such a couple?
How we're working
We've received a grant from the ESRC to conduct this study, and are working in partnership with the University of Bradford and Birbeck, University of London.
Potential policy impact
Our findings will create an indispensible evidence-base about an under-researched group. These couples challenge the assumption that 'single' in residential terms means 'single' in personal terms, or that 'non-residential' means absent. This has important implications for future policy making and the collection of emperical data that underpins it.
Our methods
We're using multi-scale quantitative and qualitative analysis involving three strands:
- a representative national survey of living apart together couples run as a module of questions on our Omnibus and BSA surveys
- semi-structured interviews with a large purposive sample drawn from the national survey
- psychosocial interviews with a small purposive sample, also taken from the national survey.
In collaboration with
You can:
Of interest:
- NatCen
- 35 Northampton Square, London, EC1V 0AX
- Tel 020 7250 1866
- info@natcen.ac.uk
