Current societal trends allow for more flexibility in establishing, building, and maintaining a relationship with another individual. Decades ago it was not acceptable for a couple to have sex or live together before they were married. Today, it is common for couples to reside together, even before they are engaged. The rise of couples who cohabitate prior to marriage has altered the way our society perceives marriage and relationships and led to a reformulation of the dating process.
Prior to the 1960’s it was seen as untoward for couples to have live together if they were not married. The Civil Rights Movement 1960’s and early 1970’s altered different aspects of society and how women are viewed. Women were more socially promiscuous and it became more common for women to live with a boyfriend (Casper & Bianchi, 2001, p. 154). This arrangement was often hidden from parents or other family members who would have disapproved (Casper & Bianchi, 2001, p. 155). Since this time there has been a steady increase in the number of couples who chose to cohabitate before marriage. According to Casper & Bianchi (2001), “The proportion of unmarried women who were cohabitating tripled, from 3 percent to 9 percent, between 1978 and 1998” (p. 155). In the 1960’s only 8 percent of couples cohabitated prior to marriage. In the mid-1990’s 56 percent of couples cohabitated prior to marriage (Casper & Bianchi, 2001, p. 155). Social factors contributed to more couples engaging in premarital cohabitation and the rise of its acceptance.
Casper & Bianchi (2001) contribute the increase in cohabitation to:
A number of factors, including increased uncertainty about the stability of marriage, the erosion of norms against cohabitation and sex...
... middle of paper ...
...ouples who did not cohabitate prior to marriage.
References
Casper, L. M., & Bianchi, S. M. (2001). Cohabitation. Family in transition (pp. 153-164). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Guzzo, K. (2009). Marital intentions and the stability of first cohabitations. Journal of Family Issues, 30(2), 179-205.
Jose, A., Daniel O'Leary, K. K., & Moyer, A. (2010). Does premarital cohabitation predict subsequent marital stability and marital quality? A meta-analysis. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(1), 105-116.
Murrow, C., & Shi, L. (2010). The influence of cohabitation purposes on relationship quality: An examination in dimensions. American Journal of Family Therapy, 38(5), 397-412.
Phillips, J. A., & Sweeney, M. M. (2005). Premarital Cohabitation and Marital Disruption Among White, Black, and Mexican American Women. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(2), 296-314.
DeVault, C., Cohen, T., & Strong, B. (2011). The marriage and family experience: Intimate relationships in a changing society. (11th ed., pgs. 400-426). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth cengage learning.
This correlates with data found in Steuber and Paik (2014) article regarding cohabitation. The researchers found that majority of cohabitating relationships are formed in early adulthood (Steuber & Paik 2014). The responses from the five couples also show that cohabitating can be a short-lived union (ibid). Couple D moved the quickest and married within a year of cohabitating together (Personal experience D 2014). Couple E separated after three years of cohabitation (Personal E 2014). These two experiences show that cohabitation can be short-lived relationships that end within three years (Steuber & Paik 2014).Of the duration of my research, Couple A, B, and C remain in cohabitating relationships, it will be interesting to see how these three cohabitating relationships will end. Couple A, B, C, D and E list some type of financial constraint as a reason for cohabitating. Couple A are in entry level position jobs and living in Toronto (Personal experience A 2014). This couple expressed that it is cheaper to share expenses especially rent (ibid). Couple B decided to cohabitate together because it is financially more stable to share expenses (Personal experience B 2014). The female in this relationship is finishing her postgraduate education and the male works full time (ibid). Couple D also had financial constraints because of the expensive rent in Toronto, and the male is still completing his education (Personal experience D 2014). Couple E had financial constraints because they were employed in low income jobs (Personal experience E 2014). They both only have high school education (ibid). The personal experiences experienced by these four couples show the financial insecurity of this age group. This correlates well with data found in the Statistics Canada (2012) financial security survey, the median net worth of individuals under the age of 35
Cohabitation, over the last two decades has gone from being a relatively uncommon social phenomenon to a commonplace one and has achieved this prominence quite quickly. A few sets of numbers convey both the change and its rapidity. The percentage of marriages preceded by cohabitation rose from about 10% for those marrying between 1965 and 1974 to over 50% for those marrying between 1990 and 1994 (Bumpass and Lu 1999, Bumpass & Sweet 1989); the percentage is even higher for remarriages. Secondly, the percentage of women in their late 30s who report having cohabited at least once rose from 30% in 1987 to 48% in 1995. Given a mere eight year tome window, this is a striking increase. Finally, the proportion of all first unions (including both marriages and cohabitation) that begin as cohabitations rose from 46% for unions formed between 1980 and 1984 to almost 60% for those formed between 1990 and 1994 (Bumpass and Lu 1999).
Heterosexual cohabitation is essentially one man and one woman, living together who are in a committed relationship. According to recent census data, an estimated four million unmarried heterosexual couples are living together in the United States; a number which has doubled since the 1980's.(Warner1/3) In fact, cohabitation was illegal in all fifty states prior to 1970.(Popenoe "Should") In the year 1965, only ten percent of newlywed couples had lived together before marriage; presently the statistic has risen to fifty percent.(Tolson) The reasons for the new found acceptance of cohabitation are obvious. The sexual revolution, which began in the sixties, played a major role in changing the attitudes towards premarital sex. The media has taken advantage of this revolution and has been a prominent cause in the spread of acceptance towards sexual openness. Presently, it is not unusual for young adults to be sexually active with more than one partner before their first marriage.
One factor is the rise cohabitation. Individuals of the opposite sex are living together, and in a sexual relationship and are not married. It’s only partly accountable for changes, as cohabitation continues to be a forerunner to marriage, than an alternative to marriages. Living with one another is supposed to be the step after marriage, since a large amount is doing it before, they are thinking what is the point of getting married? The increased tolerance toward sexual expression outside marriage is also a factor in decline marriages and postponement. Unmarried individuals who desire multiple sex partners, instead of one, or who has high tolerance for high sexual relationship outside of marriage, are not motivated to get married (Thornton, 2001). They are only concerned with making their selves, when hoping from person to person. Economic opportunities are also a factor in marital decline. There is uncertainty in the economic future for young men for it has falling, as for young women opportunities has increased. With these changes it has made it harder for young individuals to achieve the type of family that they were raised by, or taught to be like. Is discouraging the men, they are so use to thinking they have to be the breadwinner in the house, when that is not the case. An additional factor that plays role in martial postponement has to deal with individuals holding
...voidance in marital interaction: A longitudinal view of five types of couples. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 61(1). 6-15. 4. Jacobson, N., & Addis, M. (1993). Research on couples and couple therapy: What do we know? Where are we going? Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 61. 85-93.
More Americans are getting divorced at an astonishing rate, according to the McKinley Irvin Family Law, there are about 16,800 divorces per week. This phenomenon has triggered a general panic among young adults. Therefore, animated by their fear of getting divorced, young adults have elaborated a new solution to avoid divorce which is cohabitation. They see cohabitation as a test to avoid divorce. However, does cohabitation really work? Meg Jay in her text entitled “The Downside of Living Together” defends the idea that seeing cohabitation as a preventive way to avoid divorce leads to increase the chance of divorce. I believe that cohabitation
It is not a new thought that today’s young Americans are facing issues, problems and difficult decisions that past generations never had to question. In a world of technology, media, and a rough economy, many young adults in America are influenced by a tidal wave of opinions and life choices without much relevant advice from older generations. The Generation Y, or Millennial, group are coming of age in a confusing and mixed-message society. One of these messages that bombard young Americans is the choice of premarital cohabitation. Premarital cohabitation, or living together without being married (Jose, O’Leary & Moyer, 2010), has increased significantly in the past couple of decades and is now a “natural” life choice before taking the plunge into marriage. Kennedy and Bumpass (2008) state that, “The increase in cohabitation is well documented,such that nearly two thirds of newlyweds have cohabited prior to their first marriage”(as cited in Harvey, 2011, p. 10), this is a striking contrast compared with statistics of our grandparents, or even parents, generations. It is such an increasing social behavior that people in society consider cohabitation “necessary” before entering into marriage. Even more, young Americans who choose not to cohabitate, for many different reasons, are looked upon as being “old-fashioned”, “naive”, or “unintelligent”. This pressure for young people to cohabitate before marriage is a serious “modern-day” challenge; especially when given research that states, “... most empirical studies find that couples who cohabited prior to marriage experience significantly higher odds of marital dissolution than their counterparts who did not cohabit before marriage”, stated by Jose (2010) and colleagues (as c...
In the article “Grounds for Marriage: How Relationships Succeed or Fail” by Arlene Skolnick talks a lot about how the attitudes towards marriages now a days is much different then what peoples attitudes have been in the past. The article talks about how there are two parts of every marriage “the husband’s and the wife’s”. This article touches on the affects cohabitation, and how cohabitation is more likely to happen among younger adults. This article talks about how the younger adults are more inclined to cohabitate before marriage, and that currently the majority of couples that are interring in to marriage have previously lived together. The article stats that some of the Possible reasons for couples to live together before marriage might include shifting norms
Hanson, Richard R. "Optimizing Marital Success: The Conscious Couple Uniting Process." Humboldt Journal of Social Relations 32.1, TRANSLATIONAL APPLIED SOCIOLOGY (2009): 158-83. JSTOR.Web. 11 May 2014.
Askham, Janet. "Identity and Stability within the Marriage Relationship." Journal of Marriage and Family 38.3 (1976): 535-47. JSTOR. Web. 7 Jan. 2014. .
Works Cited Kunz, Jenifer. Think Marriages & Families. Boston: Pearson, 2011. http://www.prs Print. The. Laquer, Estin, Ann.
..." The Influence Of Cohabitation Purposes On Relationship Quality: An Examination In Dimensions. " American Journal Of Family Therapy 38.5 (2010): 397-412. Academic Search Elite -. Web.
The Web. 12 Dec. 2013. Shiono, Patricia H., and Linda S. Quinn. " National Trends in Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage. "
The divorce statistics and couples living together paint an interesting picture. More than half the couples that decided to marry lived together before hand.