Most cohabitants in the Nordic countries Cohabitation is more widespread in Norway than in most other countries. For a long time, Norway lagged behind Sweden and Denmark, but now the differences have largely been erased. Cohabitation is also common in many Central European countries such as France, Switzerland and the Netherlands, although it is not quite as common as in the Nordic countries. The combination of cohabitation and children is found more frequently in the Nordic countries. The percentage of children born out of wedlock is an indication of this.
Cohabitation is still extremely rare in the southern European countries.
More cohabiting than married couples under 35 years of age Another way of calculating the percentage of cohabiting couples is to exclude those not living as a couple, counting only the cohabitants among those couples who are married or cohabiting. Measured in this way, nearly one in four couples is a cohabitant relationship. Among couples aged 60 and up cohabitants are far and few between, only 3 per cent are cohabitants and 97 per cent are married. Marriage and cohabitation patterns are different for men and women in the younger age groups. This is because women start to cohabit and marry at younger ages.