Living apart together

Similar figures are recorded for other countries in northern Europe, including Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.

[8][9][10] LAT is also increasingly understood and accepted publicly, is seen by most as good enough for partnering, and subject to the same expectations about commitment and fidelity as marriage or cohabitation.

Guo Jianmei, director of the center for women's studies at Beijing University, told a Newsday correspondent, "Walking marriages reflect sweeping changes in Chinese society."

[11] A similar arrangement in Saudi Arabia, called misyar marriage, also involves the husband and wife living separately but meeting regularly.

[15] Research using more comprehensive data suggests LAT couples are a heterogeneous social category with varying motivations for living apart.

[18] Among older persons, priorities shift as the responsibilities of raising children and paid work diminish and a limited future increases a preference for effectively rich relationships.

Swedish research showed that older women were significantly more motivated to live apart together to secure independence and avoid a traditional gendered division of labor.

In the 1840s, the famous composer Frédéric Chopin and the female novelist George Sand had an "unusual" relation that would be called LAT nowadays.

It is important to remember, however, that it is not just the rich and famous who live apart together, LAT is common amongst ordinary people in all social groups.

The documentary Two's a Crowd documents a New York City couple that was forced to give up a LAT relationship because of the economic downturn of the late 2000s.