Czech Republic. The principal form of partnership is marriage, but extramarital childbearing and cohabitation are slowly spreading, yet this trend is not without criticism; and some view these phenomena as a threat to traditional values. In 2016, 40.2% of births were to unmarried women. Fertility in Slovakia has been described in a 2008 study as "between tradition and modernity". Switzerland Switzerland has a tradition of strong conservatism; which can be seen in its legal and social history: in Europe, Switzerland was one of the last countries to establish gender equality in marriage: married women's rights were severely restricted until 1988, when legal reforms providing gender equality in marriage, abolishing the legal authority of the husband, come into force (these reforms had been approved in 1985 by voters in a referendum, who narrowly voted in favor with 54.7% of voters approving). Adultery was decriminalized in 1989. Until the late 20th century, most cantons had regulations banning unmarried cohabitation of couples; the last canton to end such prohibition was Valais, in 1995. As of 2015, 22.5% of births were to unmarried women. Births outside marriage are most common in the French speaking part (highest percentage in the cantons of Vaud, Neuchâtel, Geneva, Jura) and least common in the eastern German speaking cantons (lowest percentage in the cantons of St. Gallen, Zug, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden). Spain Spanish society has undergone major changes since the fall of the Franco regime. Important legal changes which have occurred throughout the 1970s and 1980s include legalization of divorce, decriminalization of adultery, gender equality in family law, and removing the ban on contraception. The liberalization of the political climate has allowed for alternative family formation. In the mid-1990s, cohabitation in Spain was still described as a "marginal" phenomenon, but since the 1990s, cohabitation has increased dramatically in Spain. In Spain, in 2016, 45.9% of births were outside marriage. As in other countries, there are regional differences: in 2011, in Catalonia the figure was 42% – highest in mainland Spain in that year (Canary Islands 59% and Balearic Islands 43.5% were highest) while in Murcia it was only 30.7% (lowest). Russia In Russia, many couples express a desire to cohabit before marriage, then register a civil marriage, and then at a later stage have a large church wedding. Middle East The cohabitation rate in West Asian countries is much lower than in European countries. In some parts of