Over 50 thousand lesbian and gay couples

In January 2005, there were almost 53 thousand same sex couples living together in the Netherlands. Almost a quarter married or has a registered partnership. This is the outcome of a study by Statistics Netherlands.

Lesbian and gay couples

More male couples

The number of same sex couples rose sharply in recent years. On 1 January 2005, there were almost 53 thousand gay and lesbian couples. Ten years ago there were less than 39 thousand. The number of male couples (29 thousand) exceeds that of female couples (24 thousand). Despite the sharp increase, the same sex couples constitute slightly more than 1 percent of the total number of couples living together.

Lesbian and gay couples by type of relationship

Almost a quarter registered their relationship

Over 6 thousand male and female couples are married. This is almost 12 percent of all same sex couples. Furthermore about 10 percent of the couples has a registered partnership. So in total almost a quarter of all same sex couples has registered their relationship with the Registry Office. For the total number of couples living together this share is over 80 percent.

Nine percent with children

About 9 percent of gay and lesbian couples have children living at home. These children are partly from earlier relationships. Male couples with children living in the household are rare. Only 1 percent of male couples live with a child, versus over 18 percent of the female couples.

Lesbian and gay couples in the four major cities, 2005

Over a quarter in the four major cities

Many same sex couples prefer the big cities. Almost a quarter lives in one of the four major cities. This share is considerably lower for the total number of couples living together, namely one tenth. Amsterdam is particularly popular: 13 percent of all same sex couples lives there.

Liesbeth Steenhof