Common-law Relationships are Growing More Common
November 25, 2015 by West Coast ADR
According to the census that was carried out in Canada back in 2011, more and more people are deciding to start common-law relationships. For Canadians who are 49 years old and younger, the amount of divorces has also been going down. Some experts think that the two things may be related, as more people turning to common-law relationships would naturally mean fewer people were married and therefore able to get divorced.
A common-law relationship is when two people live together without getting married. They could do this for years, and some people in these relationships are as committed—or more so—as people who make it legal.
The survey to find this information looked at 14 million women in Canada. They were at least 15 years of age. According to the stats, 11 percent of these women had moved in with a common-law partner and were living with them in 2011. Back in 1981, when the same survey was carried out three decades before, only 3.8 per cent of women were in this same situation.
The numbers also went up for women over 50. Specifically, for those between 50 and 54 years old, 11 per cent were in common-law relationships in 2011—exactly the same percentage as the overall total. However, back in 1981, the percentage in this same group was even smaller, with a mere 1.7 per cent reporting that they were in these relationships.
Divorce was fairly common in this age group, though, with roughly 50 per cent of the women having been divorced before entering the current relationships.
It’s important for people in these relationships to know what legal rights they have, as it can be different from an official marriage.
According to the census that was carried out in Canada back in 2011, more and more people are deciding to start common-law relationships. For Canadians who are 49 years old and younger, the amount of divorces has also been going down. Some experts think that the two things may be related, as more people turning to common-law relationships would naturally mean fewer people were married and therefore able to get divorced.
A common-law relationship is when two people live together without getting married. They could do this for years, and some people in these relationships are as committed—or more so—as people who make it legal.
The survey to find this information looked at 14 million women in Canada. They were at least 15 years of age. According to the stats, 11 percent of these women had moved in with a common-law partner and were living with them in 2011. Back in 1981, when the same survey was carried out three decades before, only 3.8 per cent of women were in this same situation.
The numbers also went up for women over 50. Specifically, for those between 50 and 54 years old, 11 per cent were in common-law relationships in 2011—exactly the same percentage as the overall total. However, back in 1981, the percentage in this same group was even smaller, with a mere 1.7 per cent reporting that they were in these relationships.
Divorce was fairly common in this age group, though, with roughly 50 per cent of the women having been divorced before entering the current relationships.
It’s important for people in these relationships to know what legal rights they have, as it can be different from an official marriage.