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

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.