Cohabitation: Marriage and Percent Likelihood Essay

Submitted By nique316
Words: 505
Pages: 3

Conducting research on cohabitation I found that it could be equally good or bad for the couple who is cohabitating. Cohabitating has grown dramatically over the years. I’ve read that in 1960 there were estimated 450,000 couples who were living together, now it’s estimated at 7.5 million. When you think about it a lot of people are cohabiting out of convenience. It’s cheaper economically and reduces the strain and responsibility for one person. I’ve even read that most women see cohabitating as a step towards marriage, while men on the other hand take it as a test in their relationship and some even cohabitate to avoid commitment. Although a study was conducted by the national marriage project about two-thirds said they believed in moving together before marriage was a good way to avoid divorce. Which after doing some further research on the subject I believe that cohabitating before marriage could be equally good or bad for the couple in the long run.
When you move in with your boyfriend/girlfriend you might do it for all the wrong reasons. It needs to be clear about the intentions and expectations you may have for one another. I’ve read that for women there was 60 percent likelihood a marriage would survive 15 years if the couple either hadn’t of lived together before the wedding or cohabitated while engaged. When you think about the numbers it’s a plus for the couples. Also the upside to cohabitating is learning rather or not you can live together before getting married so that both couples can avoid making a mistake.
While everything may seem great when cohabitating there was a study done and most couples said that their standards were much lower for a live in partner vs. a spouse, when you think about that in terms of the rate increase on cohabitating. It seems as though some people are cohabitating strictly