More Older Couples Stay Together Because They Live Apart

Instead of marrying or living together, many older couples live separately and see each other several times a week, or three times a month, reports the Wall Street Journal . A doubling of the divorce rate among those 55 and older has created a larger population of single adults desiring long-term partners, but who want to make their relationship work without mixing finances or relationships with adult children. A Bowling Green State University survey of 2,166 adults age 50 to 65 found nearly one-third of respondents currently in an unmarried relationship were in a committed long-term relationship, but living separately. Meanwhile, University of Missouri Professor Jacquelyn Benson found unmarried partnered adults between 57 and 85 years old were twice as likely to have separate residences as to live together. This arrangement appeals to men who want to preserve their leisure time, and to women who want to retain their autonomy.