Cohabitation Before Marriage In The United States

Cohabitation, or living together without being married is a significant change in the way the majority of adults evolve from being single to being married in the United States. More marriages in the U.S. involve cohabitation before a wedding. “It is estimated that about half of the population has cohabitated at some point and approximately 9 percent of those age in 15-44 are currently cohabitating (Martinez 2007).” In addition, studies show that men and woman actually favor cohabitation before marriage. People believe that it is a good idea to live someone before marriage in order to find out if they truly get along or not. Despite these beliefs, cohabitation actually increases a couple’s chance of getting divorced.

Why would anyone consider cohabiting? There are many reasons why couples choose to cohabit before marriage. Couples say they do it for convenience, or to lower the cost of living. If they have only one apartment to pay for or clean, it’s going to make it easier than having two. Couples also cohabit for sexual or emotional intimacy without the responsibilities of marriage, to learn their partner’s habits and characteristics, and to prepare for marriage by practicing living together.

Although people believe that cohabiting is ideal before marriage, it has many

Cohabitation is not necessarily bad for any given relationship; it’s just not encouraged. Levels of conflict are more likely to occur, and with conflict you are less likely to make the decision to get married. With marriage, most of these issues are left at the door. I understand that there are still going to be issues and hard times, but couple’s that are married are more likely to resolve them. The main reason why marriage is better for people is not a matter of statistics or human studies. We can be sure marriage is better for us because God says