Cohabitation

1
Cohabitation

• Personal Interest Lesson
• Laura Riaboy

2
Statistics

• 55
• 53
• 46

• Divorce rate for married couples who lived
  together first
• Couples who cohabitate marry within five years of
  moving in together
• Of women in their first marriages lived with
  spouses first

3
Statistics

• 55
• 53
• 46

• Couples who cohabitate marry within five years of
  moving in together
• Of women in their first marriages lived with
  spouses first
• Divorce rate for married couples who lived
  together first

Benenson, Lisa. The State of the Union.
Ladies Home Journal. March 2003, 109-114.
4
More Statistics

• 1960 439,000 couples shared a home out of
  wedlock
• 2000 4,900,000 opposite sex couples did
• 2/3 of Americans cohabitate before marriage

Benenson, Lisa. The State of the Union.
Ladies Home Journal. March 2003, 109-114.
5
Definition

• My thoughts
• Authors subjects

6
Not-So-Good News

• Injure institution of marriage
• Already hurt after the divorce revolution
• Short-lived substitute for marriage (usually
  involves children)
• Over 1/3 include children under 18
• 2 of 5 out-of-wedlock births are to parents who
  are cohabitating ( / -)

Hymowitz, Kay. The Cohabitation Blues.
Commentary. March 2003, Vol 115, Issue 3, 66-69.
7
Not-So-Good News

• 1/6 couples who live together gt 3 yrs
• 1/10 couples gt 5 years
• 70 of children living with a cohabiting couple
  are the offspring of only one partner

Hymowitz, Kay. The Cohabitation Blues.
Commentary. March 2003, Vol 115, Issue 3, 66-69.
8
Why not get married?

• The timing is off
• Want to avoid divorce
• Dont want to be a husband or wife
• Fewer costs to marriagealso fewer benefits

Hymowitz, Kay. The Cohabitation Blues.
Commentary. March 2003, Vol 115, Issue 3,
66-69. Mcginnis, Sandra. Cohabiting, Dating,
and Perceived Costs of Marriage A Model of
Marriage Entry. Journal of Marriage Family.
Feb 2003, Vol 65, Issue 1, 105-116.
9
Lessons

• When comparing marriage to cohabitation, marriage
  is usually the better course to take (especially
  when children are involved).
• When considering cohabitation as a stage of
  courtship, I dont recommend it unless you
  already plan on getting married.

10
Final Thought

• There is sort of a myth that you can improve
  your chances of having a successful marriage by
  living together to see what its like, and there
  is no evidence at all that that helps people make
  a better decision so its not a good reason for
  living with somebody. Linda Waite, University
  of Chicago

Jabusch, Willard. The Myth of Cohabitation.
America. October 2000, Vol 183, Issue 10, 14-16.