Married and Living Apart Together
Family Profile No. 27, 2025
Author: Natalie Bankey
Living apart together (LAT) relationships typically involve unmarried individuals in a long-term intimate relationship who maintain separate households but still identify themselves as part of a couple (Strohm et al., 2009). Other researchers have opted to include married couples who choose to live apart as well (Payne et al., 2020). This profile updates FP-20-15 by examining the proportion of newlyweds (those who report having entered a marriage in the last year) who are in a LAT relationship. Newlywed LATs are defined as those not living with their spouse for reasons other than separation. Using data from IPUMS-USA 1-year estimates, this profile examines LAT status by characteristics such as the number of times married, age, and educational attainment.
Newlyweds in LAT Relationships, 1980-2023
- The share of newlyweds in a LAT relationship has remained steady over the last five years.
- In 2018, 13.4% of newlyweds were in a LAT relationship, but that number declined slightly to 12.5% in 2023.
- Recent estimates of LAT relationships among newlyweds remained more than double the estimates in 1980 when only 5.7% were in a LAT relationship.
Figure 1. Share of Newlyweds in a LAT Relationship, 1980-2023
Newlyweds in LAT Relationships by Times Married
Figure 2. Share of Newlyweds in a LAT Relationship by Times Married, 2023
- Among newlyweds in their first marriage, about 13.1% were in a LAT relationship.
- For newlyweds in their second marriage, about 10.6% were in a LAT relationship compared to 10.2% in at least their third marriage.
- Since 2018, the shares of newlyweds in a LAT relationship who had been married only once declined slightly from 14.4% to 13.1%. For those married twice, the decrease was even smaller (from 10.9% to 10.6%). Conversely, there was an increase among those who have been married 3 or more times (from 8.7% to 10.2% [not shown]).
Newlyweds in LAT Relationships by Age
- The share of newlyweds in a LAT relationship differed markedly by age, with those aged 15-24 far outpacing adults of older ages.
- The share of newlyweds in a LAT relationship remained nearly unchanged among those aged 15-24, with over one in four (from 26.5% to 26.6%) in a LAT relationship.
- The smallest share of newlyweds in a LAT relationship were among those aged 25-34 (9.2%) increasing gradually with each successive age group with 13.7% of those aged 65 and older reporting being in a LAT relationship.
- All age groups from 25 through 64 experienced some drop in the share in a LAT relationship. The largest drop was among those aged 55-64 (down 1.9% from 12.2% to 10.3% [not shown]).
Figure 3. Share of Newlyweds in a LAT Relationship by Age Group, 2023
Newlyweds in LAT Relationships by Educational Attainment
Figure 4. Share of Newlyweds in a LAT Relationship by Educational Attainment, 2023
- The share of newlyweds in LAT relationships decreased as educational attainment increased.
- Approaching one-in-three newlyweds with less than a high school education were in a LAT relationship (29.4%) compared to fewer than one-in-ten among those with at least a bachelor’s degree (8.3%).
Data Source:
Ruggles, S., Flood, S., Sobek, M., Backman, D., Cooper, G., Rivera Drew, J. A., Richards, S., Rodgers, R., Schroeder, J., & Williams, K. C. W. (2025). IPUMS USA: Version 16.0 [Data set]. IPUMS. https://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V16.0
References:
Payne, K. K., Allred, C. A., & Brown, S. L. (2020). Married and living apart together. Family Profiles, FP-20-15. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-20-15
Strohm, C. Q., Seltzer, J. A., Cochran, S. D., & Mays, V. M. (2009). “Living Apart Together" relationships in the United States. Demographic Research, 21, 177–214. https://doi.org/10.4054/demres.2009.21.7
Suggested Citation:
Bankey, N. (2025). Married and living apart together. Family Profiles, FP-25-27. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-25-27
This project is supported with assistance from Bowling Green State University. From 2007 to 2013, support was also provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s) and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of any agency of the state or federal government.
Updated: 09/02/2025 08:14AM