Cohabitation in Middle and Later Life, 2022

The popularity of cohabitation for US adults of all ages has continued to grow in recent years. For older men and women (aged 50+) in 2000, the number of cohabitors was about 1.2 million, or 1.6% of adults in that group (Brown, Bulanda, & Lee 2005). As of 2022, this number has almost quadrupled to 4,205,505. We find that among older adults more men (2,216,977) are cohabiting than women (1,988,528). This sex difference is especially pronounced when comparing cohabitation rates (number of cohabitors per 1,000 unmarried and separated). The cohabitation rate is higher among older men at 118.2 than women at 67.17. This rapid growth is evidence cohabitation has become a more common experience for today’s older adults. A majority of older cohabitors are Non-Hispanic White (69%) with the next closest racial/ethnic group being 14% of older adult cohabitors being Hispanic. 10% were non-Hispanic Black, 4% were non-Hispanic Other race, and 3% were non-Hispanic Asian. Drawing on 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) data, we examine variation in cohabitation trends for older US adults by geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic characteristics. First, we present state variation in cohabitation rates which represent the number of older adult cohabitors per 1,000 unmarried and separated older adults. Second, we examine how poverty rates and marital histories of cohabitors compare to those who are single and married.