Estimating the cohabiting population

This article summarises mid-2007 cohabitation estimates produced for England and Wales and compares these with estimates made for previous years. Over the last fifteen years there has been a rise in the number of cohabiting adults in England and Wales. Previous estimates indicate that there were 2.7 million cohabiting adults in 1992 (6 per cent of the population over 16-years-old). In 2007 it is estimated that the number of cohabiting adults had increased to 4.5 million (10 per cent of the population over 16-years-old). Cohabitation trends provide evidence to suggest that cohabitation will continue to rise for never married adults (and therefore overall), particularly at older ages. There is also evidence suggesting an end to historic increases in cohabitation levels for never married adults under 30-years-old.