4.2.3

LAT Relationships

Test yourself

Living Apart Together Relationship (LATs)

LATs are those where couples are in a long-term relationship but choose to live in separate households.

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What are LATs?

  • LATs are unburdened by the structural commitments of married or cohabiting relationships, such as financial commitments and legal entanglements.
  • Levin regards LATs as a new form of family, an alternative to marriage or cohabitation which challenges the traditional concept of the nuclear family.
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Growth of LATs

  • The growth in LATs arises through changes in social norms, similar to those related to divorce, the decline of marriage and the rise in cohabitation.
  • LATs conform to Giddens' ‘pure relationship’, based on self-interest and emotional needs.
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Why people choose LATs

  • Levin has proposed three reasons why people might actively choose LATs instead of marriage or cohabitation:
    • There may be existing responsibilities for other people, such as children living at home or elderly relatives.
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Practical reasons

  • Why people choose LATs (Levin):
    • Practical reasons: Couples (or ‘apartners’) may work or study in different places or may fear losing memories attached to their former homes.
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Risk

  • Why people choose LATs (Levin):
    • Apartners might want to avoid the risk of re-creating the conditions that led to the break-up of a former relationship.

Jump to other topics

1Theory & Methods

2Education with Methods in Context

3Option 1: Culture & Identity

4Option 1: Families & Households

5Option 1: Health

6Option 1: Work, Poverty & Welfare

7Option 2: Beliefs in Society

8Option 2: Global Development

9Option 2: The Media

10Crime & Deviance

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