Meanings and Attitudes Attached to Cohabitation in Poland: Qualitative Analyses of the Slow Diffusion of Cohabitation among the Young Generation

Monika Mynarska, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

In recent years, the European family has been undergoing many transitions, including a “shift from the golden age of marriage to the dawn of cohabitation” (van der Kaa, 1987). This process has not been uniform across Europe (e.g.: Kiernan, 2002). Poland, 15 years after the fall of the communist regime, follows many demographic trends of Western Europe but still reports an extremely low level of cohabitation (1.3% - National Census, 2002). The aim of this paper is to investigate the meanings and attitudes attached to pre-marital cohabitation and to cohabitation as an alternative to marriage, thus addressing the issue of future of cohabitation in Poland. First, some relevant statistics concerning cohabitation will be presented, followed by an overview of survey results. The data will be enriched by qualitative analyses to gain an in-depth understanding of the virtual lack of cohabitation in Poland with its concurrent approval expressed in surveys.