How to force a checkbox and text on the same line?

Another way to do this solely with css:

input[type='checkbox'] {
  float: left;
  width: 20px;
}
input[type='checkbox'] + label {
  display: block;
  width: 30px;
}

Note that this forces each checkbox and its label onto a separate line, rather than only doing so only when there's overflow.

Try this CSS:

label {
  display: inline-block;
}

Try this. The following considers checkbox and label as a unique element:

<style>
  .item {white-space: nowrap;display:inline  }
</style>
<fieldset>
<div class="item">
    <input type="checkbox" id="a">
    <label for="a">aaaaaaaaaaaa aaaa a a a a a a aaaaaaaaaaaaa</label>
</div>
<div class="item">
   <input type="checkbox" id="b">
<!-- depending on width, a linebreak NEVER occurs here. -->
    <label for="b">bbbbbbbbbbbb bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb  b b b b  bb</label>
</div>
<div class="item">
    <input type="checkbox" id="c">
    <label for="c">ccccc c c c c ccccccccccccccc  cccc</label>
</div>
</fieldset>

It wont break if you wrap each item in a div. Check out my fiddle with the link below. I made the width of the fieldset 125px and made each item 50px wide. You'll see the label and checkbox remain side by side on a new line and don't break.

<fieldset>
<div class="item">
    <input type="checkbox" id="a">
    <label for="a">a</label>
</div>
<div class="item">
   <input type="checkbox" id="b">
<!-- depending on width, a linebreak can occur here. -->
    <label for="b">bgf bh fhg fdg hg dg gfh dfgh</label>
</div>
<div class="item">
    <input type="checkbox" id="c">
    <label for="c">c</label>
</div>
</fieldset>

http://jsfiddle.net/t5dwp7pg/1/