COHABITATION

1
COHABITATION

• Why Buy the Cow, When You Can Get the Milk for
  Free?

2
The Problem

• Cohabitation violates the institute of marriage
  by lacking a true commitment.
• Cohabitation
• Living together in a sexual relationship without
  being married

3
Background Leading to the Problem

• In 1960, of the 52,799,000 households, only
  439,000 were unmarried cohabitants as opposed to
  104,705,000 households in 2000.
• In the 2000, there were 4,736,000 unmarried
  cohabitants in the United States.

4
Reasons Given for Cohabitation

• Economic advantages
• We can save money by sharing living expenses.
• Time together
• We are able to spend more time together.

5
Reasons for Cohabitation (cont.)

• Increased intimacy
• We have more opportunities to share sexual and
  emotional intimacy without getting married.
• Less complicated dissolution
• If the relationship doesnt work out, there is
  no messy divorce.

6
Reasons for Cohabitation (cont.)

• Testing compatibility
• Living together enables us to better learn about
  each others habits and character and see how we
  operate together day-to-day.
• Trial marriage
• We are planning to marry soon.

7
New Info on Cohabitation

• Cohabitation is on the rise for older individuals
• Reasons
• Avoid loss of financial benefits such as alimony,
  welfare, or pension checks
• Loss of a spouse to death or divorce and fear of
  losing another spouse
• Pain and anger as a result of a divorce

8
Health Effects of Cohabitation

• Increased risk of drug abuse
• Higher risk of physical, emotional, and mental
  abuse
• Unstable relationship
• Higher overall rates of violence among
  cohabitors.
• Violent relationship can lead to depression,
  suicide, homicide, or death.

9
Possible Solutions

• Do Not Cohabitate
• Have faith in your relationship
• Have high self-esteem
• Legal Cohabitation Agreement
• Entered into by unmarried person who live
  together
• In agreement, the parties can agree with respect
  to acquisition, disposition of property upon
  separation, personal rights, obligation of either
  party, control of property, etc.

10
Best Solution

• Refrain from Cohabitation
• Couples living together have the lowest level of
  premarital satisfaction when compared to other
  living arrangements.
• Married couples that cohabitated prior to
  marriage have poorer communication skills in
  discussing problems than couples that did not
  cohabitate.
• Cohabitating couples are less sexually committed
  and trustworthy.

11
Summary

• Cohabitation rates increased from 500,000 in 1970
  to 5.5 million people cohabitating in 2000
• 60-75 of first marriages preceded by
  cohabitation
• 80-85 of re-marriages preceded by cohabitation

12
Summary

• Delay of marriage until median age of 25 for
  females and 27 for males
• Concern over continuing high rates of divorce has
  led to couples seeking a weaker form of union
  with less commitment to lifelong marriage

13
Summary

• Several studies show that cohabitating increases
  the risk of drug use and physical, mental , and
  emotional abuse.
• Overall rates of violence in cohabitating couples
  were double that of married couples and severe
  violence was 5 times higher for cohabitors.

14
Summary

• Cohabitating couples have lower levels of
  personal happiness and higher rates of depression
  than married couples
• Cohabitors have more negative attitudes about
  marriage than non-cohabitors.

15
Summary

• Do Not Cohabitate
• Best solution
• Marriages preceded by cohabitation are more
  likely to end in divorce.
• Cohabitation is generally not a good way to
  prepare for marriage or to avoid divorce.
• Legal Cohabitation Agreement

16
The Bottom Line

• Lack of commitment to marriage
• A strong commitment is the basis of marriage.
• Cohabitating couples are more oriented toward
  their own personal autonomy.
• Cohabitors are more willing to terminate the
  relationship.
• Inability to make a decision about marriage
• Cohabitation reflects uncertainty.

17
The End Result

• Continuing to cohabitate will continue to raise
  the divorce rate for couples who do get married
  after cohabitation.
• Cohabitation increases the chances of having
  children out of wedlock.
• Ending the cohabitation and divorce will result
  in single parent homes.