Cohabitation Spreads Among Immigrants Where Natives Embrace It

Immigrants in Europe are more likely to have lived with a partner outside marriage when cohabitation is common and socially accepted among the native population of their host country, according to a new study published in the European Journal of Population. The research, by Katrin Schwanitz and Martin Klesment, also finds that the children of immigrants cohabit more often than the immigrant generation itself, and that a supportive national context narrows the gap between migrants and natives.

The study draws on pooled data from the European Social Survey covering 2002 to 2023, encompassing 444,794 respondents across 32 European countries. Using mixed-effects statistical modelling, the authors examined how generational status at the individual level and the national cohabitation context at the macro level influence the likelihood of ever having cohabited. This measure captures lifetime experience of unmarried partnership rather than current living arrangements, so the findings speak to whether people have ever cohabited at any point in their lives.

The central proposition of the paper is that the diffusion of cohabitation among immigrants is more pronounced in countries where the practice is widespread and socially accepted among natives. The modelling results support this proposition. Descendants of immigrants are more likely to have ever cohabited than first-generation immigrants, indicating generational adaptation over time, although the size of this difference varies across countries. This variation suggests that the pace of adaptation is not uniform across Europe but depends on the settings in which immigrant families live.

The prevalence of cohabitation among natives emerged as a strong contextual predictor in the models. Higher native cohabitation levels increased the likelihood of cohabitation for both immigrants and their descendants, and narrowed migrant-native differences in settings where cohabitation is more common. In other words, the normative climate of the host country appears to shape partnership behaviour not only for the migrants themselves but also for their children raised in that environment.

The authors argue that lifetime cohabitation among immigrants and their descendants is not merely a product of individual traits but is fundamentally shaped by the normative climate of the host country. This framing places the national context alongside individual characteristics such as generational status as a key determinant of partnership patterns, and contributes to a literature that has so far remained limited on how immigrant background shapes the cohabitation experience.

The study’s motivation rests on a demographic shift: immigrants and their descendants constitute an increasing share of European populations, making it increasingly relevant to understand how their family formation patterns compare with those of natives. Because the analysis covers 32 countries over more than two decades, it offers an unusually broad comparative view of partnership behaviour among migrant populations across Europe.

Readers should note that the article is being shared early to provide faster access to peer-reviewed, accepted research. It carries a permanent DOI and is citable, but this version is subject to further edits and will be replaced by the final Version of Record. The findings are based on survey data and statistical modelling, so they describe associations between national context and cohabitation behaviour as reported by respondents across the survey years studied.

Subject of Research: How generational status and national cohabitation norms shape immigrants' lifetime cohabitation in Europe

Article Title: The Diffusion of Cohabitation Among Immigrants in Europe: The Role of the National Cohabitation Context

Article References: Schwanitz, K., & Klesment, M. (2026). The Diffusion of Cohabitation Among Immigrants in Europe: The Role of the National Cohabitation Context. European Journal of Population. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-026-09790-w

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s10680-026-09790-w

Keywords: cohabitation, immigrants, Europe, European Social Survey, generational adaptation, family demography, migrant-native differences, normative climate, host-country context, population studies, Diffusion, Role