This study investigates Living Apart Together (LAT) relationships in Brazil, where couples maintain separate households. While LAT has been studied in Western contexts, its exploration in Brazil, with its distinct cultural expectations around family and consumption, remains limited. Using Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the study analyzes eight in-depth interviews to explore how autonomy, identity, and intimacy are negotiated. Findings reveal that LAT relationships are intentional lifestyle choices, not transitional arrangements, driven by past relational experiences and a desire for individuality. LAT couples favor experience-oriented consumption, contrasting with traditional couples who prioritize material goods. The study positions LAT as a stable relational model, contributing to the Second Demographic Transition and expanding the Household Life Cycle framework. It also highlights LAT couples as a growing consumer segment, with values of autonomy and shared experiences challenging conventional cohabitation-based marketing strategies.
ArnouldE. J.ThompsonC. J. (2005). Consumer culture theory (CCT): Twenty years of research. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(4), 868–882. https://doi.org/10.1086/426626
4.
AskegaardS.LinnetJ. T. (2011). Towards an epistemology of consumer culture theory: Phenomenology and the context of context. Marketing Theory, 11(4), 381–404. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470593111418796
5.
AyusoL. (2019). Living apart together relationships: Between autonomy and commitment. Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 165, 117–134.
6.
BardinL. (2011) Análise de conteúdo (70). Edições.
7.
BloorM. (1997). Techniques of validation in qualitative research: A critical commentary. In MillerG.DingwallR. (Eds.), Context and method in qualitative research (pp. 37–50). Sage.
8.
BowmanC. (2018). Modern intimacy: LAT couples and the new dynamics of relational commitment. Journal of Family Studies, 24(3), 315–332.
9.
BowmanC. G. (2018). Living apart together as a ‘family form’ among persons of retirement age: The appropriate family law response (Cornell legal studies research paper No. 19-12). https://ssrn.com/abstract=3374398
10.
CaarlsK.MazzucatoV. (2016). Transnational relationships and reunification: Ghanaian couples between Ghana and Europe. Demographic Research, 34, 587–614. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2016.34.21
11.
CarterJ.DuncanS. (2018). Reinventing couples: Tradition, agency and bricolage. Global Discourse, 8(2), 294–309.
12.
CarterJ.DuncanS.PhillipsM.WeatherallR. (2016). Sex, love and security: Accounts of distance in committed relationships. The Sociological Review, 64(2), 249–265.
13.
CavalcanteM. C.GolinC. (2011). Vivendo juntos separados: Uma análise das relações LAT no Brasil. Anais do 35° Encontro Anual da ANPOCS.
14.
ChavesM. M.NevesF. S.FonsecaS. M. (2020). O relacionamento Living Apart Together (LAT) no Brasil: Um estudo exploratório. Revista de Ciências Sociais, 51(1), 127–144.
CoulterR.HuY. (2017). Living apart together and cohabitation intentions in Great Britain. Journal of Family Issues, 38(3), 387–409. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513x15619461
DeciE. L.RyanR. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli1104_01
20.
DeciE. L.RyanR. M. (2008). Self-determination theory: A macrotheory of human motivation, development, and health. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 49(3), 182–185. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012801
21.
DorbritzJ. (2008). Germany: Family diversity with low actual and desired fertility. Demographic Research, 19(17), 557–598. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2008.19.17
22.
DuncanS.BarlowA.JamesG. (2013). Living apart together in britain: Policy and practice. Families, Relationships and Societies, 3(3), 403–408.
23.
DuncanS.CarterJ.PhillipsM.RosenkranzE.WeatherallR. (2014). Practices and perceptions of living apart together. Family Science, 5(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/19424620.2014.927382
DuncanS.PhillipsM. (2011). People who live apart together (LATs): New family form or just a stage?International Review of Sociology, 21(3), 513–532. https://doi.org/10.1080/03906701.2011.625660
EppA. M.PriceL. L. (2008). Family identity: A framework of identity interplay in consumption practices. Journal of Consumer Research, 35(1), 50–70. https://doi.org/10.1086/529535
FiałkowskaK. (2019). Remote fatherhood and visiting husbands: Seasonal migration and men’s position within families. Comparative Migration Studies, 7(2), 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-018-0106-2
30.
FunkL. M.KobayashiK. M. (2016). From motivations to accounts: An interpretive analysis of “Living Apart Together” relationships in mid-to-later life. Journal of Family Issues, 37(8), 1101–1122.
31.
GangopadhyayJ. (2023). Living apart together (LAT): A new family form in urban India. Sociological Bulletin, 72(3), 332–348. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380229231172146
32.
GlaserB. G.StraussA. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Aldine.
33.
GroenouM. B.RieleS. van derGierveldJ. de J. (2019). Receiving support and care in older age: Comparing LAT relationships with first marriages, remarriages, and cohabitation. Journal of Family Issues, 40(13), 1786–1807. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124118823457
34.
HaddenB. W.RodriguezL. M.KneeC. R.PorterB. D. (2018). Autonomy and relationship maintenance: Contemporary perspectives. Current Opinion in Psychology, 23, 74–78.
35.
HaddenB. W.SmithC. V.WebsterG. D. (2015). Relationship duration moderates associations between capitalization and relational outcomes. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 32(1), 107–126.
36.
KobayashiK.FunkL. M.LongD. (2017). Long-distance LAT relationships in later life: The significance of home. Journal of Aging Studies, 42, 49–56.
37.
LesthaegheR. (2014). The second demographic transition: A concise overview of its development. PNAS, 111(51), 18112–18115. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1420441111
38.
LesthaegheR.NeelsK. (2002). From the first to the second demographic transition: An interpretation of the spatial continuity of demographic innovation in France (18, pp. 325–360). Belgium and Switzerland European Journal of Population.
39.
LesthaegheR. J. (2022). The second demographic transition: Also a 21st century Asian challenge? China popul. Dev. Stud, 6(3), 228–236. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42379-022-00119-8
LiefbroerA. C.PoortmanA.-R.SeltzerJ. A. (2015). Why do intimate partners live apart? Evidence on LAT relationships across Europe. Demographic Research, 32, 251–286. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2015.32.8
42.
LiefbroerA. C.SeltzerJ. A.PoortmanA.-R. (2012). Why do intimate partners not live together? Understanding diversity in LAT relationships across Europe. Em European population conference. Estocolmo, Suécia. [Extended abstract].
43.
LincolnY. S.GubaE. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry: Sage.
44.
Lyssens-DanneboomV.MortelmansD. (2014). Living apart together: Longing for the best of both worlds?Demographic Research, 31, 1281–1310.
45.
MartinA. G.MartosF. T. A.MartosJ. A. F. (2022). A família reconstituída e a renda familiar: O parentesco socioafetivo e seus reflexos no âmbito assistencial. Revista de Direito Brasileira, 31(12), 440–460. https://doi.org/10.26668/IndexLawJournals/2358-1352/2022.v31i12.8898
46.
MurphyM. J.StaplesC. L. (1979). A modified family life cycle model. Journal of Consumer Research, 6(1), 12–22.
47.
NagpalS. (2024). Double income no kids: A cause for alarm than a sign of feminism. Firstpost.
48.
NishikidoM.Castro-MartínT. (2024). Living apart together in contemporary Spain: Diverse motivations across life stages. Advances in Life Course Research, 61, Article 100627. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2024.100627
49.
OláhL.Sz.KarlssonL.SandströmG. (2023). Living-apart-together (LAT) in contemporary Sweden: (how) does it relate to vulnerability?Journal of Family Issues, 44(1), 3–24.
50.
Ortiz-OspinaE. (2019). The rise of living alone: How one-person households are becoming increasingly common around the world. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/rise-of-living-alone
51.
PiekutA. (2020). Beyond the family life cycle: A typology of family arrangements in Poland. Journal of Family Issues, 41(12), 2027–2050.
52.
PreetzR. (2022). LAT relationships and individual well-being: A review. Marriage & Family Review, 58(1), 1–28.
53.
Régnier-LoilierA. (2015). Neither single nor in a couple in France: What became of ´ them three and six years later? In MortelmansD.PasteelsI.Regnier-LoilierA.VignoliD. ´MazzucoS. (Eds.), Analysis of determinants and prevalence of LAT (pp. 29–53): Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research.
54.
ReimondosA.EvansA.GrayE. (2011). Living-apart-together (LAT) relationships in Australia. Family Matters, 87, 43–55.
55.
RoseneilS. (2006). On not living with a partner: Unpicking coupledom and cohabitation. Sociological Research Online, 11(3), 111–122. https://doi.org/10.5153/sro.1413
56.
SchwittekJ.KönigA.DucuV. (2025). Living apart together: Growing up in transnational families. Families, Relationships and Societies, 14(1), 2–7. Retrieved Jun 30, 2025, from. https://doi.org/10.1332/20467435Y2024D000000053
57.
SnellK. D. M. (2017). The rise of living alone and loneliness in history. University of Leicester. Journal contribution. https://hdl.handle.net/2381/39483
58.
StrohmC. Q.SeltzerJ. A.CochranS. D.MaysV. M. (2009). Living apart together relationships in the United States. Demographic Research, 21, 177–214. https://doi.org/10.4054/demres.2009.21.7
59.
TaiT. O. C.BaxterJ.HewittB. (2014). Do co-residence and intentions make a difference? Relationship satisfaction in married, cohabiting, and living apart together couples in four countries. Demographic Research, 31, 71–104. https://doi.org/10.4054/demres.2014.31.3
Van De KaaD. J. (2023). Recent trends in fertility in Western Europe. In Demographic patterns in developed societies (pp. 55–81). Routledge.
62.
Van der WielR.MulderC. H.de ValkH. A. (2020). From living apart to living together: Do children born before the current partnership matter?Comparative Population Studies, 45. https://doi.org/10.12765/CPoS-2020-07
WuH.BrownS. L. (2022). Union formation expectations among older adults who live apart together in the USA. Journal of Family Issues, 43(10), 2577–2598. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513x211031518
65.
YeoleS.ReleD. K.LeleS. (2023). An exploratory study on the spending pattern of DINK (Double Income No Kids) community from India. Journal of Informatics Education and Research, 3(2), 123–135.
