7th ESFR Congress Madrid, September 2014

Legal status of cohabitation in young Poles’ perspective. What regulations are needed and why?

Monika Mynarska Institute of Psychology Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw

Informal unions in Poland Share of informal unions and direct marriages among all newly formed unions, women, Poland, 1970-2010

Source: Computations by A. Matysiak, GGS-PL (Matysiak & Mynarska, 2014)

Childbearing in Cohabitation in Poland

Among all poczęć conceptions unions – what is a share Procent / urodzeń/ /births dzieci w/ children kohabitacjiin- wśród wszystkich of children conceived, born and raised in cohabitation?

dzieci urodzonych w związkach

0,25

conceptions in cohabitation poczęcia

0,2

births in cohabitation urodzenia

0,15

children aged 6 m. in cohab dzieci w wieku 6 m-cy

0,1

dzieci w wiekuchildren 1 roku in cohab. 1-year-old 0,05

dzieci w wiekuchildren 2 lat 2-year-old in cohab. 11 20

05

-2 0

05 20

00

-2 0

00 19

95

-2 0

95 19

90

-1 9

89 -1 9 80 19

19

70

-1 9

79

0

Source: Computations by A. Matysiak, GGS-PL (Matysiak & Mynarska, 2014)

Research Questions Cohabitation is not recognized under the Polish law, but given demographic changes – how cohabiting couples should be treated? The subjective perspective of young Poles: • What legal regulations matter to young couples as they make a choice between cohabitation and marriage?

How rights and obligations of young cohabiting couples (with and without children) are perceived compared to their married counterparts?

Sample and Method Project „Focus on Partnership” (coordinated by Brienna Perelli-Harris) 10 countries – including Poland. Focus Group Interviews (FGI) conducted in Warsaw in 2012: • 69 respondents (35 women i 34 men), aged 25-40 • 8 focus groups stratified by gender and education • In each group individuals childless / with children, married / cohabiting / single etc.

Standardized guideline: • Perceptions on cohabitation (versus marriage) • Explicit questions on legal regulations, policy measures etc.

Results: Emerging Themes Legal status of cohabitation versus marriage: (1) Process of union dissolution (2) Inheritance (3) Practicalities of everyday's life (4) Cohabiting mothers declare to be lone mothers

Cohabitation vs Marriage (1) Union dissolution Cohabitation = „easy to leave at any time” There are no formalities, no divorce, no lawsuit, no lawyers, no washing your dirty linen in public. (FG3, man, low/medium educated)

He packs his stuff and leaves. There is no divorce, no need to divide things… It’s like they have never been together. (FG7, woman, highly educated)

It is attractive for testing a relationship – it allows for avoiding mistakes People want to get to know each other better and to grow into a decision to marry, and maybe they want to have an option for an easy way out of this relationship. (FG2, woman, low/medium educated)

Cohabitation vs Marriage (1) Union dissolution BUT it does not give any economic protection to a woman

- A cohabiting woman has nothing in the moment [of separation] - A married woman will say, wait a minute, a half is mine! (FG4, women, low/medium educated)

He doesn’t even need to pay really, he can just say: bye! And you can just go on looking for him. During a divorce there is a court to decide – for instance – with whom a child stays. And there [in cohabitation] there is no such thing. He just walks away. He can say ‘bye’ and he doesn’t even need to see a child at all. Nothing. (FG7, woman, highly educated)

Cohabitation vs Marriage (2) Inheritance No economic protection for a woman in case of her partner’s death

When I live at my boyfriend’s place, and when something happens to him, then I have to move out, I have no place to stay because I’m nobody. (FG7, woman, highly educated)

For example, a couple lived together, and one of them died, and when they had some common property, then everything is lost, she stays only on her own. (FG1, man, low/medium educated)

Cohabitation vs Marriage (3) Practicalities No access to information, administrative problems at various offices

A situation, an accident. I had a situation that I was out of reach and my partner was calling to police stations, to different places, to the family too etc. But no one wanted to give her any information because: who are you? (FG3, man, low/medium educated)

Various legal issues (…) You won’t be able to collect a letter from a post-office in his/her name, nothing. From a legal point of view, you can’t do anything. (FG7, woman, highly educated)

Cohabitation vs Marriage (4) Cohabiting mother = lone mother? A cohabiting mother may declare to be a lone mother to receive some privileges. Most importantly: that increases a chance to place a child in public kindergarten or crèche. The incentive is so strong that some married couples might decide to divorce!

A child is admitted to a kindergarten easier, and it means a lot. Now, it’s incredibly hard to get a place. Last year people were standing in a queue the whole night to get a place for their kids in the nursery, and single parents have priority, so it’s a big advantage (FG2, woman, low/medium educated)

Are there any other regulations?

Cohabitation vs Marriage: Other Issues Some other issues were mentioned – although not always correctly: • Contradictory opinions on bank loans and insurance options for cohabiting versus married couples • Only vague knowledge about a joint taxation

You can file your tax declaration together with your husband, I think. To the Tax Office. And sometimes it’s beneficial. (FG4, woman, low/medium educated)

• Some incorrect information related to parental rights, but in general the respondents were aware that these do not depend on parents’ marital status. • BUT nobody mentioned that in a cohabiting couple fatherhood needs to be declared!

Conclusions There are different types (or stages) of cohabitation. If cohabitation is a trial period the lack of mutual obligations between the partners is very attractive – it allows for a relaxed testing and easy separation if the trail fails. A possibility to register cohabitation will not be alluring to such couples. But a lack of legal recognition of cohabitation becomes an important drawback for long-term cohabiting relationships – especially with children. In Poland, childbearing in cohabitation is related to external obstacles that prevent a couple from getting married rather than to individual preferences (Matysiak & Mynarska 2014).

Conclusions Important areas of actions – what legal regulations are needed? Cohabitants with children: separation, death of a partner Status of a lone mother Information on legal aspects (on both, cohabitation and marriage!)

This research has been conducted within the project „Consensual unions and childbearing in cohabitation” coordinated by Monika Mynarska and financed by the Polish National Science Centre (decision number DEC-2013/08/M/HS4/00440)

Thank you!

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