Non-Marital Long-Term Relationships in the Federal Republic of Germany

The familial situation in non-marital long-term relationships.

Topics: appropriate representation of personal interests in the
nation; personal interests not represented; significance of religion
and religiousness; most frequent leisure partner; length of current
partner relation; period of meeting before start of closer partner
relation; reasons for not marrying; basic rejection of marriage; ideas
about the form of life in old age; marriage intent and probable point
in time; general prerequisites and special reasons for a later
marriage; arrangement of financial conditions between partners; general
judgement on partner relation (scale); problems and difficulties in
partner relation; potential reason for separation; agreements reached
in case of separation; will; agreements for common acquisitions;
influence factors for a good partner relation; general judgement on
marriages as well as non-marital partner relations in personal circle
of friends; strength of tie in earlier partnerships and as appropriate
problems in separation; general as well as personal advantages and
disadvantages of a non-marital long-term relationship and of marriage;
support payments and greater financial obligations; information on
common greater acquisitions and savings account; feelings of obligation
of the two partners among themselves with hypothetical financial
difficulties; children from personal earlier partnership relations as
well as from relations of partner; place of residence and relationship
to these children; common children from current partner relation;
disadvantages from sole custody of mother with non-marital long-term
relationships; desire for children; ideal number of children; practiced
method of contraception; personal significance of an unexpected
pregnancy and assumed significance for partner; in-family division of
decision-making responsibilities. The following additional questions
were posed to men: willingness to accept custody for common children;
living with parents, with partner or in a group sharing a residence;
gradual or immediate moving together with partner; selected partner
residence; possession of additional lodging possibilities besides
common household; rent contract signed by partner or respondent;
difficulties with landlords, neighbors, parents or in occupation;
greatest trouble from non-marital living together; distribution of
tasks in the household.

The following question was also posed to women: interest in acceptance
of custody for common children by the current partner.

Demography: age; age of partner; sex; marital status; marital status
of partner; religious denomination; frequency of church attendance;
school education; school education of partner; occupation of partner;
employment of partner; income; income of partner; size of household;
city size; state; ZIP (postal) code; size of city in which youth was
spent.

Interviewer rating: date of interview.