Cohabitation

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This article is about a living arrangement. For the situation in governmental politics, please see Cohabitation (government).

Template:Globalize Template:OriginalResearch Cohabitation is an arrangement where two unrelated people live together, often as part of a sexual relationship. In some jurisdictions such arrangements can become legally formalised as a common-law marriage either after the duration of a specified period or the birth of a child of the couple.

Cohabitation is defined as an emotional, physical, and intellectually intimate relationship which includes a common living place and which exists without the benefit of legal, cultural, or religious sanction. The cohabiting population, although inclusive of all ages, is mainly made up of those between the ages of 25 and 34. Several common reasons for couples to decide to live together include wanting to test compatibility before marrying, living with someone before marriage as a good way to avoid divorce, and/or seeing little difference between the commitment to live together and the commitment to marriage. But the three most important positive consequences and reasons commonly cited by cohabiting couples are simply companionship, sexual gratification, and economic gain.

Traditionally in the Western World, a man and a woman who lived together without being married were socially shunned; in some jurisdictions, this was even illegal. Today, cohabitation is a common (if not a majority) pattern among younger people, especially those who desire marriage but whose financial situation temporarily precludes it. Many couples who marry have lived together beforehand, possibly before the engagement, to the point that cohabitation has become known in some circles as "college marriage."

Much opposition to cohabitation comes from religious groups, particularly Christians. Such groups sometimes call cohabitation "living in sin."

Some couples prefer cohabitation because it does not legally commit them for an extended period of time, and because it is easier to establish and dissolve. In many countries (such as Scotland) and some states in the U.S., such cohabitations can be viewed legally as common-law marriages, especially if the couple consider one another as husband and wife and behave accordingly. (This helps provide the surviving partner a legal basis for inheriting the deceased's belongings in the case of the death of their cohabiting partner.)

Several U.S. states legislatively forbid cohabitation among heterosexual partners. These laws, though no longer enforced by the courts, have been used by various public agencies to discriminate against their employees. Some civil-rights activists believe that such use of the law is unconstitutional, and provides homosexuals with rights that are denied to heterosexuals. It may be arguable in view of the opinion in Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) that such laws making cohabitation illegal are unconstitutional.

1 Rising trend
2 Gender differences
3 Benefits
4 Risks
5 Factors that encourage cohabitation
6 See also
7 External links
8 References

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Rising trend

Cohabitation has been dramatically on the rise in the United States within the last few decades. This phenomenon is becoming very widespread, and has impacted many aspects of family life and personal relationships as a whole. About two-fifths of Americans have cohabited before their marriage and currently 10 million people are cohabiting in this nation. At the present rate of cohabitation, one-quarter to one-third of children today will live with cohabiting parents before they reach the age of 18.

Cohabitation has become mainstream. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2000, from 1990 to 2000 the number of unmarried couples living together increased 72%. There are many indicators suggesting different reasons for this trend: separation of sex and reproduction, declining authority of religion, legal repercussions of divorce, and increased presence of women in labor market. In the U.S. Census of 2000, 41% of American women ages 15-44 stated that they have cohabited at some point. This includes 9% of women ages 15-19, 38% of women ages 20-24, 49% of women ages 25-29, 51% of women ages 30-34, 50% of women ages 35-39, and 43% of women ages 40-44.

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Gender differences

Problems from cohabitation stem from the different expectations that are held going into the living arrangement. Male cohabitants are less marriage-oriented than their partners. This is supported by a study, which found that the reason for cohabiting for males is sexual gratification or as a way to decide if they would like to make a commitment to the relationship, while for females; marriage was stated as the most important motive.

While young people who cohabit identify with more liberal views on gender equality, most of the household tasks still fall on the women. Women in these relationships spend 31 hours a week on household chores, compared to the 37 hours spent by married women. Also, since cohabiting couples are less likely to combine their earned income, as in with marriages, women receive less financial support from their partners than they would in a marriage . The cohabiting trend seems to put women at a disadvantage. Overall, cohabiting couples deal with more health problems and are more likely to suffer from depression than married people.

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Benefits

Cohabitation can be seen as a substitute for marriage without the financial and legal risks of a divorce, while still fulfilling a human need for close emotional support and social interaction otherwise found in a married life. Cohabitation can also be used as a "trial period" to see how compatible a couple is in a long term relationship in closer proximity. According to an article on cohabitation by Psychology Today, it is very important for both people to understand the reasons and expectations for cohabitation in order to prevent disappointment. Both people need to understand their shared reasons for cohabitation, whether it is an intermediate step between marriage, a living arrangement for economic purposes, a substitute for marriage, or intimate sexual relationships. This puts pressure on both sides of a cohabiting relationship to independently care for themselves with less dependence on a partner than what might otherwise be found in a married relationship.

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Risks

For some people, cohabitation is a way to see if the relationship is good and solid before making the step towards marriage. They try to assess their compatibility with their partner. 90% of American cohabitors eventually plan to marry but only less than half actually do. Cohabiter marriages have a 35-50% separation rate (Seltzer, 2000; Teachman, 2002; Teachman, 2003) than non-cohabiter marriages, however psychologist William Pinsof, president of the Family Institute at Northwestern University argues "It's impossible to directly compare the effects of marriage and cohabitation, there's just no way to prove cohabiters' higher divorce rates aren't a side effect of their other characteristics. Those who choose to live together before getting married have a different attitude about marriage to begin with. I think cohabiting is a reflection of that, not a cause of higher divorce rates". On average, most American cohabiting relationships last two years before marriage or a break up; and 63% of cohabiting couples separate . Only about 10% continue to simply live together.

A perceived negative of cohabitation for some is that it decreases the probability of marriage. Recent social science research has discovered that premarital cohabitation is related to undesirable marital outcomes such as a higher risk of marital dissolution, greater marital disagreement and instability, less time spent together in shared activities, and less supportive behavior. It has also been found that men who live with women they eventually marry aren't as committed to the union as those who didn't live with their mates before tying the knot. On the other hand, people of each gender commonly begin cohabitating without ever intending to marry.

On the other hand, The majority of couples marrying today have lived together first - indeed, a 2000 study showed that 53% of women's first marriages are preceded by cohabitation (Bumpass, Larry and Lu, Hsien-Hen: "Trends in Cohabitation and Implications for Children's Family Contexts in the United States." Population Studies, 54: 29-41). And while 40% of different-sex cohabitors break up before getting married, a greater proportion (55%) get married within 5 years of moving in together (Smock, Pamela. "Cohabitation in the United States." Annual Review of Sociology, 2000). Moreover, while some studies have shown that married people are happier and healthier than single ones, the gap disappears when you factor in cohabitation. In the words of one expert, "Committed cohabiting relationships seem to confer many of the benefits of marriage." (William Doherty, Professor, Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota, at the Council on Contemporary Families conference, April 27, 2001).

Finally, many experts believe that the studies showing that premarital cohabitation increases the risk of divorce are flawed. According to one 2003 report prepared for the Deparment of Health and Human Services, "The most sophisticated studies have found that, although cohabitation engenders somewhat more liberal attitudes toward divorce, it does not increase the likelihood of marital disruption." (Final report prepared for the Department of Health and Human Services by Abt Associates. "The Determinants of Marriage and Cohabitation Among Disadvantaged Americans: Research Findings and Needs." Marriage and Family Formation Data Analysis Project, March 2003). Or, in the words of one expert, "The problem with this research is that it does not adequately account for selection -- people who choose to live together before marriage are not the same people who choose to marry directly. They comprise at least two different groups with different attitudes toward marriage, religion, and relationships in general. ... To attribute premarital cohabitors' higher subsequent divorce rate and non-premarital-cohabitors' lower subsequent divorce rate to the fact that they did and did not cohabit before they married is unwarranted and bad science." (William Pinsof, family psychologist and President of the Family Institute at Northwestern University, in Family Process, vol. 41, no. 2, 2002).

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Factors that encourage cohabitation

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Divorce

Cohabitation is beginning to be seen as an intergenerational process. Children of cohabiting parents share the same risk factors as their parents, which is why the pattern is passed down. Acceptance of premarital cohabitation is higher in adolescents that are exposed to significant levels of parental conflict and divorce. Alternatively, given the experience of parental separation they want to determine compatibility avoid the risk of being "branded" divorced. Therefore via cohabitation they test compatibility to increase their chances of having a successful marriage later. Although cohabitation is associated with a 151 percent increaseTemplate:Citationneeded in the odds of divorce compared to couples who entered directly into marriage, younger couples still choose this as an alternative. This may be because younger couples in general have a higher divorce rate, and not necessarily because cohabitation is more likely to lead to a marriage that results in divorce.

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Religion

Cohabitation is an alteration of traditional marriage and living together out of wedlock is considered a sin by most religious beliefs. Cohabitation rates can be said to be inversely proportionate to how religious a cohabiting couple feels. The degree of religiosity and church attendance, which seem to be positive indicators of a traditional-value orientation, is a distinguishing factor among cohabitants from non-cohabitants. The increase in individualism and secularism in American culture is paving the wave for an increase in cohabitation. People who attended church on a weekly basis are less likely to cohabit than those who rarely or never went. Those who frequently attend church, often are more likely to marry directly and those who rarely or never attend are more likely to commence their first partnership with cohabitation. With the increasing rates of cohabitation, it is possible that religious views are being relaxed, abandoned, or ignored.

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Personality

The act of cohabitation is not necessarily what causes these couples to break up. Rather, it has been suggested that the more important factor is the type of people who are cohabiting. Two common theories in this vein are that:

The partners who chose to cohabit together are individuals with less traditional values and poor relationship skills that link to being more likely to end a union. Cohabitation attracts more egalitarian individuals
The experience of cohabiting changes people's opinions on marriages and they develop attitudes that make them more open to divorce. It decreases strict attitudes, and encourages more liberal thinking.

Generally speaking, people who were opposed to cohabitation (such as Catholics) might also be less inclined to divorce. People with more liberal views on cohabitation would presumably be more inclined to divorce.

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