Cohabitation In America Essay

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Recommended: The Influence of American Individualism

Scholars agree that American’s have begun to place higher values on individualism and gratification of personal wants and needs, while also placing less of an importance on the idea of marriage and family (Lee & Payne, 2010). As a result of Americans growing more concerned with living a fulfilling life and the idea of secular individualism, many no longer care about the function marriage may provide to society (Lee & Payne, 2010). The importance of marriage as a social and legal institution has deteriorated as a result of the losses seen in divorce (Lundberg & Pollak, 2015). In contrast, it is argued that the rate of marriage is declining because some American’s place too much emphasis on the importance of marriage (Lee & Payne, 2010). …show more content…

There has been a large increase in the number of couples who choose to live together before they are engaged or married (Vanorman & Scommegna, 2016). The number increased from one in every ten marriages in the 1970’s to roughly seven in ten marriages in the year 2010 (Vanorman & Scommegna, 2016). From 2006 to 2010, about 48% of women, ages 15-44 experienced cohabitation as their first union compared to 23% whose first union was marriage (Vanorman & Scommegna, 2016). The social exchange theory helps to describe the economic advantages of cohabitating. Social exchange theory is the idea that relationships are developed in hopes to maximize reward and minimize costs (Lundberg & Pollak, 2015). Dual-production and dual-consumption are two of the many benefits couples experience when cohabitating (Lundberg & Pollak, 2015). Cohabiting relationships are also much less expensive and stressful to end, compared to a divorce (Lundberg & Pollak, 2015). While cohabitation is a rising trend, it is not a stable or long lasting one (Vanorman & Scommegna, 2016). Within the first three years of moving in together couples have tended to get married or break off the relationship (Vanorman & Scommegna,

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