Cohabitation in Society Today

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Cohabitation in Society Today

In today’s society marriage is no longer considered to be a life

binding commitment to one person; as a result, there are surprisingly

high divorce rates. One in every five people get divorced at least

once in their lifetime. Therefore many couples are opting to

cohabitate before deciding on marriage.

Cohabitation can be defined as an intimate relationship in which a

male and female live together as husband and wife without legally

marrying. In order for cohabitation to be successful, each individual

must form an identity of their own first. According to Erik Erikson’s

Eight Stages of Life, one must have a clear sense of who they are

before they are able to share themselves with another individual.

Erikson argues that without a true identity formed relationships would

be shallow.

It has been discovered that youth are entering more serious

relationships at younger ages and are living together at a younger

age. This new trend adds to the sixty three percent of cohabitating

couples who eventually marry. Many young couples decide to cohabitate

before they are mature enough to be accountable for another person. As

a result, these couples add considerably to the number of divorces or

separated couples that have married after cohabitation.

The Family Life Cycle theory describes early adulthood as a stage in

which individuals are launched from their families of origin. Parents

and children must separate from one another in order for young adults

to accept emotional responsibility for themselves.

Many cohabitants are young adult that have never lived apart from the

family origin until now and therefore have not yet had the chance to

gain independence or accept responsibility for themselves. This may

pose a problem to the individual if the cohabitating relationship does

not last. Early cohabitation may hinder a person’s development towards

becoming a self-sufficient independent adult. Failing cohabitating

relationships that do not result in marriage can also cause problems

in an individual’s future relationships if they are unable to fully

trust another intimate partner.

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