Seniors living together out of wedlock
Does grandma or grandpa have a partner who visits and occasionally stays the night? According to American census figures, co-habitation numbers of people aged 65 years and older have tripled in the past decade.
Does grandma or grandpa have a partner who visits and occasionally stays the night? According to American census figures, co-habitation numbers of people aged 65 years and older have tripled in the past decade.
Once described as shameful and scandalous, the numbers of older unmarried adults living together have now reportedly jumped from 193,000 in 2000 to 575,000 last year.
Researchers believe numbers will continue to soar as the baby boomer generation enters into ‘old age’. Results show only 52% of American adults surveyed were married and about 60% of people aged 50 years or younger who say they have lived with a partner without being married to them.
Susan Brown, a Bowling Green State University sociology professor, says the numbers are “considerably higher” than statistics show.
So why are older American adults hesitant to walk down the aisle and tie the knot?
Professor Brown explains money can be a key indicator of this resistance to wed, explaining, for instance, a widow who receives her late husband’s social security pension will forfeit that income if she was to remarry.
But sociologist, Andrew Cherlin, at Britain’s Johns Hopkins University, believes the reason for holding off on the wedding vows is because older adults often do not want to “complicate” the terms of their wills by bringing new spouses into the “family picture”.
However, genuine love also factors its way into this picture, with some experts suggesting the losses and hardships that old age can sometimes bring is eased by forming an intimate relationship in older age.
“It presents another opportunity to develop a connection and feel a sense of significance and belonging to someone,” one of the researchers claims.
Do you know of any older couples who are living together ‘out of wedlock’? Share your thoughts on this topic in the comment box below.
