People Who Live Apart Together (LATs) - How Different are They

Bibliographic Data

ID3579083
AuthorsSimon Duncan (University of Bradford), Miranda Phillips (0000-0001-6318-2233, University of Bradford)
Year2010
Volume58
Issue1
Pages112-134
Publication date2010-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-954x.2009.01874.x
OpenAlexW2150891995
LanguageEN
Citations received74
References cited17

Living apart together' - that is being in an intimate relationship with a partner who lives somewhere else - is increasingly recognised and accepted as a specific way of being in a couple. On the face of it, this is a far cry from the 'traditional' version of couple relationships, where co-residence in marriage was placed at the centre and where living apart from one's partner would be regarded as abnormal, and understandable only as a reaction to severe external constraints. Some commentators regard living apart together as a historically new family form where LATs can pursue a 'both/and' solution to partnership - they can experience both the intimacy of being in a couple, and at the same time continue with pre-existing commitments. LATs may even de-prioritize couple relationships and place more importance on friendship. Alternatively, others see LAT as just a 'stage' on the way to cohabitation and marriage, where LATs are not radical pioneers moving beyond the family, but are cautious and conservative, and simply show a lack of commitment. Behind these rival interpretations lies the increasingly tarnished spectre of individualisation theory. Is LAT some sort of index for a developing individualisation in practice? In this paper we take this debate further by using information from the 2006 British Social Attitudes Survey. We find that LATs have quite diverse origins and motivations, and while as a category LATs are often among the more liberal in family matters, as a whole they do not show any marked 'pioneer' attitudinal position in the sense of leading a radical new way, especially if age is taken into account

Cohabitation · Face (sociological concept) · Friendship · General partnership · Political science · Residence · Social science · Sociology · Demography · Gender Studies · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Law · Migration, Aging, and Tourism Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology

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