‘Fewer people are getting married’: Sociologist breaks down rise in common-law partnerships

More couples are moving in together, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, but fewer of them are saying “I do.”

The 2016 census showed 437,875 people were married in the province, with 82,550 living in common-law partnerships. The most recent census data, released Wednesday, showed an increase in common-law relationships — up to 86,795 — while marriages increased by about the same amount, to 440,040.

Laura Wright, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Saskatchewan, said the trend of fewer marriages and a growing number of common-law relationships has been emerging among those born in or after the 1960s.

“Fewer and fewer people are getting married,” Wright explained, “and when they do get married, they’re tending to do this later and later in their lives.”

The opposite has been seen with cohabitation, she said.

“Cohabitation has absolutely replaced marriage as the first union type,” Wright said.

As a family demographer, Wright examines family transitions and transitions into adulthood. She said Canadians are still partnering up, but are changing the forms of union they’re entering into.

In fact, Wright said, it’s much more likely to see people transitioning into adulthood or romantic relationships through cohabitation or common-law arrangements, rather than entering directly into marriage.

People want to live together, she said, but don’t want to be too quick about tying the knot.

“Lots of those cohabitations will eventually transition to marriage,” Wright said, but she explained that social expectations have shifted significantly over the years.

Wright said it’s not normal for young people to move out of their parent’s home for marriage today. Instead, she said, people are moving out to go to school, live with a roommate, or move to another city for work.

At that point, she said, people might be getting into relationships and then trying cohabitation.

“And then marriage is a question or a decision that you come to later,” she said.

While cohabitating used to be considered a young-person move, Wright said older people are increasingly moving in with their partners after going through divorce or becoming widowed, rather than remarrying a new partner.

Wright said it can be hard to generalize the habits of cohabitating couples, because “they’re so different.” Some use cohabitation as an alternative to being single, she said.

“It’s cheaper to have a roommate, so you have this partner. You might as well split the bills, but you really haven’t talked about long-term,” Wright said.

Some use living together as a “trial marriage,” or a step in the marriage process, she said. Others see cohabitation as the ultimate relationship aim, opting for that as an alternative to marriage.

Pandemic moves

Many of those varying situations were brought on rapidly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With many people losing their jobs or becoming uncertain about their bills and making ends meet, common-law partnerships became an effective way to manage rent. And with restrictions around seeing people, separation from a partner was not ideal.

“If you’re going to be isolating and quarantining, living with your partner, I think a lot of people were probably moved into cohabitation and common law … maybe quicker than they would have,” Wright said.

Wright noted the number of marriages has plummeted, partly due to weddings being put on hold for two years. She said the drop in wedded unions isn’t necessarily because the number of couples hoping to be married has decreased, although the strain of COVID — living in close quarters without the ability to leave, work stressors and financial concerns — likely did impact many in cohabitating relationships.

“Some of those unions that would have transitioned to marriage and didn’t during the pandemic might not transition after the pandemic,” Wright said.

An overall trend of secularization is impacting many relationships today, Wright said. Having dropped the traditional social view that marriage is inherently tied to the start of adulthood, she said new paths are available to young adults who are just starting to make their way in the world, with or without a romantic partner.