Loving one another, living together and having children together doesn’t necessarily equate to getting married – especially in Denmark.
According to new figures from the national statistics keeper Danmarks Statistik, there are fewer families with children in which the parents are married than ever before.
The trend is particularly prevalent in the municipalities of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg and Lolland, where under 70 percent are married – and the trend in the heart of the nation’s capital is no coincidence, according to family researcher Per Schultz Jørgensen.
“We are increasingly becoming more selfish and so we are less inclined to tie ourselves down for a long period of time,” Jørgensen told DR Nyheder.
“It’s more widespread in the bigger cities, so it’s also here we see more of the loose short-term relationships.”
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In contrast, Allerød and Furesø are among the top-ranking municipalities for families with children in which the parents are married, where the ratio is up to 84-86 percent.
Ann Lehmann Erichsen, a consumer economist at Nordea bank, contended that while there was no issue regarding living together outside the boundaries of wedlock, there are some things people should be aware of.
“If you look at it from an economic perspective, you need to think hard about it, because the problem is that a lot of couples are not aware of the differences between being married and living together out of marriage,” Erichsen told DR Nyheder.
“Should one of them suddenly die and a will hasn’t been established, then you don’t inherit from one another. The kids will inherit everything, and if they are small, the money will be placed in a trust.”
