According to a recent survey, Székelyland has the largest number of cohabitants in Romania. Sociologist Vita Emese went over what could be behind the data, how the phenomenon is related to religious and ethnic factors. The social researcher to Krónika , among other things, that it does not seem that cohabitation in Romania is an alternative to marriage in the long term, but at the same time, the high number in the counties of Székelyföld is probably not related to a more modern mentality or some kind of change in values.
In Romania, Székelyföld has the highest rate of cohabitants based on the data of the National Statistical Institute (INS). Kovaszna county is the first in the country, where 6.67 percent of girls and women over the age of 11 live in a cohabitation relationship; Hargita is in fourth place with 5.67 percent. Regarding the recently published report, we asked sociologist Vita Emese to help us interpret the phenomenon.
As an introduction, the expert said that it is important to shade the picture a little in relation to the published data, because both Romanian and Transylvanian society can broadly be characterized by conservative values from the point of view of family sociology.
At the same time, compared to Western European countries, the occurrence of alternative and cohabiting relationships is considered to be basically low: less than ten percent of the total population lives in a cohabiting relationship.
"There were similar proportions in the previous census in 2011, and other surveys also show similar proportions. For example, the conservative value system is also reflected in the fact that the role of partner relationships during the life journey is relatively limited to younger ages," the social researcher explained to Krónika, adding that the dominance of partner relationships prevails among people in their twenties. In this age group - based on Vita Emese's research among Hungarian youth - an increasing trend can be seen since 2016, but even so, among young people over the age of 25, the proportion of married people is already higher than that of those who choose a partner relationship.
"Therefore, the proportion of married people increases with age, in this respect there is no difference between the Székelyföld and Romanian-majority counties," the expert pointed out.
In response to the newspaper's question, he also explained that life partner relationships are not homogenous, but diverse, and that there can be multiple motivations behind them. In the majority of cases, young people see the cohabitation as a kind of trial marriage - in which, incidentally, few adopt children.
"Society has a strong expectation that at some point in life one must get married, this form of cohabitation is recognized by the legal system, encouraged by the state, and supported by the church. In Romania, it does not seem that cohabitation is an alternative to marriage in the long term, in the case of young people it is more of a stepping stone towards marriage through getting to know each other, or in a period of life when they are still studying, have not fully entered the labor market, or have not developed an independent existence to start a family," the treasured urban sociologist explained to Krónika. He added that this type of relationship is more common among middle-aged and older people who have already been married or who have gone through a divorce. They typically do not remarry, but choose to live together for practical reasons, but the motivations in this case can also be diverse.
In the case of young people, since the mid-2000s, the numbers show that an increasing proportion of them start their first long-term relationship as a partner, but the majority of these partnerships turn into marriage after a while.
"Of course, there are also cases, especially among people with higher education in big cities, where this remains permanent, but this is a fairly small slice," explained Vita Emese.
In Romania, by the way, it is mainly the categories located at the two extremes of society that choose the cohabitation relationship. On the one hand, people who live in a more urbanized area are highly educated - in their case, this is connected to some kind of value conviction: either they don't want to live in a conventional relationship, or they consider the paper form unnecessary. At the same time, the other extreme is for those in the lower strata of society, among whom the proportion of cohabitants is also quite high. In their case, however, other motivations play a role: for them, the phenomenon can be traced back primarily to economic disadvantage, they typically struggle with financial problems, and their livelihood is uncertain. For example, many people cannot afford the costs of a wedding, or they simply cannot plan long-term and undertake financial and other obligations.
The sociologist also drew attention to the fact that an analysis of Romanian data shows that the number of cohabitants among Roma has always been much higher than in the case of other nationalities, i.e. among Romanians or Hungarians
– and all this was already visible based on the previous census data.
"Not only the counties of Székelyföld are at the top of the list, but there is also Călărași county, where a significant Roma minority also lives," Vita Emese pointed out. Emphasizing also that in the case of the Roma, the partnership works as a special form of cohabitation and, although it is not official in legal terms, according to the internal norms of the traditional Roma community, it can be compared to marriage. An important factor is that Roma typically start their own families much earlier - not necessarily at an age that coincides with the limit of what is considered an official adulthood. Regardless, these Roma couples live together as if they were married, i.e. in a long-term and committed relationship, and they see young people moving in together as a marriage.
"Approximately one-third of the Roma are married, this rate is much lower than in the case of other nationalities, compared to which the rate of cohabitants is significantly overrepresented. But according to certain group norms, this corresponds to marriage, so to speak," stated Vita Emese.
The expert said that the choice of cohabitation over marriage can be linked to urbanization, the level of modernization and values of society, which includes religiosity.
Although the influence of religious norms on everyday life has generally weakened in recent decades, the Orthodox religion is still a factor with considerable influence,
according to most statistics, Romania is also one of the most religious countries internationally. Based on the census data, young Hungarians marry at a slightly lower rate than Romanians, which may also be related to religious factors. This relationship behavior brings Transylvanian Hungarians closer to Western, more individualized patterns. In connection with this, the social researcher said that in the Scandinavian countries, among young women, the proportion of cohabitants reached 40 percent in the early nineties, and most children were born out of wedlock there.
In the counties of Székelyföld, the high number at the national level is probably not related to a more modern mentality or some kind of change in values, but rather to structural and economic factors.
said Vita Emese.
The sociologist also pointed out that the phenomenon may also have demographic implications. Some researches have shown that cohabitation relationships break up more easily, so they are less stable, their duration is on average shorter than that of marriage, and they are associated with greater uncertainty and, where appropriate, vulnerability. If only because it is a legally unrecognized form of cohabitation, you cannot, for example, benefit from discounts like in the case of married couples or families. People living in a cohabiting relationship also have less intention to have children, practice also supports this.
"This does not mean that people living in a cohabiting relationship do not have children at all, but overall, statistically fewer children are born in such a cohabiting relationship than in marriage," emphasized Vita Emese, a sociologist from Cluj-Napoca, regarding the topic.
Photo: László Beliczay / Székelyhon
