Many single Australians are in intimate relationships but do not live with their partner - they are in a living apart together (LAT) relationships. LAT relationships are ‘hidden’ in official statistics which classify people as cohabiting, married or single. Following recent trends in the international literature, this project aims to make these ‘hidden relationships’ more visible in Australia. In 2005 the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Generations and Gender module included a question on non-residential unions or LAT relationships for the first time, providing a unique opportunity to begin to explore the number and nature of LAT relationships.

This project will employ a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods to:

• determine the level of LAT relationships in Australia;
• discover how LAT relationships are different to being single or living with someone;
• develop a classification of LAT relationships; and
• provide a theoretical framework for understanding LAT relationships.

Research papers

Articles

Reimondos, A., A. Evans and E. Gray (2011). Living-apart-together (LAT) relationships in Australia. Family Matters, 87:43-55

Conference papers

Evans, A., & E Gray (2012) Cohabitation and ‘Living Apart Together’, paper presented at the Australian Population Association Conference, 5-7 December, Melbourne.

Gray, E., A Evans and A Reimondos (2012) Living apart together: comparing older adults in different relationship types. Paper presented at the European Population Conference, 13-16 June. Stockholm University, Sweden.

Acknowledgements

The research team would like to acknowledge the Australian Research Council for funding this project (DP110105019).