Living Apart Together at Parents Home (LATAP): Union Transition in the Mediterranean

Laura Bernardi, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research and Université de Lausanne

Demographic research defines the transition to union primarily on the base of legal acts or residential moves. The exception, represented by the recent focus on unmarried couples living apart together, has been discussed only for individuals who left the parental home. This paper defines a new type of couple living arrangement, “living apart together at parents’ home” (LATAP), concerning individuals in a couple relationship, who have not left the parental home. Drawing on a large set of 75 semi-structured interviews collected in Italy in 2005-206, we specify the events marking the transition to LATAP and how LATAP shapes the timing and forms of subsequent co-residential partnerships. By explicitly defining LATAP, we put attention on a living arrangement that is not only common (even though neglected by current statistics) but also key to understanding union dynamics in countries with high incidence of long-lasting co-residence between parents and children.