Preview

cohabitation

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
573 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
cohabitation
Before we spend our precious money, we consumers like to know that we'll be happy with our purchases. Few people buy clothing or shoes without trying them on, and you would never buy a car without a test drive first. Moreover, grocery stores offer samples to get consumers to try new products. We often try it before we buy it. How about marriage? If you are not compatible, why spend money for the wedding and the inevitable divorce? Cohabitation, which means living together, before marriage is not new concept for people. According to a five-year study done by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, they estimate between 60 to 70 percent of couple today will live together before marriage. However, if you ask me it is a good idea of living together before marriage, my answer is YES. There are three reasons for my answer.

Cohabitation before marriage has many benefits. First of all, cohabitation helps couples know how to approach household chores. Many couples complain about they fight for the chores from time to time after they get married. However, it is suggested that couples can discuss the cooperation of sharing the chores in the stage of cohabitation and decrease arguments. Once your partner agrees on doing the chores in cohabitation, he or she will cultivate the habit of sharing the chores, which eliminate the quarrel on households. Secondly, through cohabitation, couples can learn how to handle finance. A study commissioned by Smart Money magazine and Redbook found that more than 70 percent of couples talked to their partner about money at least once a week. The respondents in the study said they fought most often about debt, spousal spending and then their own purchases. If couples can share their opinions on money and find they are financially compatible or not, those fights on money can be avoided after marriage. By cohabitation, couples can discover it is hard to earn the money, and they will be responsible accordingly.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Over the last 40 years marriage rates have declined significantly while the number of couple’s cohabitating has risen rapidly. This is due to our changing society where equality, laws, social acceptance and religions have all contributed into the way we view marriage and relationships. In the 1970’s there were around 400,000 first marriages whereas, in 2011, there were 248,000. The average ages of people getting married have also increased from 25 for men and 23 for women in 1961 to 36 for men and 33 for women in 2011. Cohabitation is a big factor in the decreasing number of marriages with people using it as either an alternative to marriage entirely, or a ‘trial marriage’ which just delays the time of a couple’s marriage.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unfortunately, studies have shown that the longer a couple cohabitates before marriage or engagement the less likely they will be to marry. I have cohabited with one ex and the experience was amazing when we were happy and horrific when we were angry. The experience showed me that there are pros and cons to every living situation. It shed a neutral light onto cohabitation for me. I would not cohabitate with a partner again unless I am engaged to be married within a year’s time. I learned that I enjoy my space, the freedom to come and go as I please, and the ability to maintain my peace in my own personal space. It is not always easy doing those things when you have another person’s space to respect as well. I believe that the goal of cohabitation is marriage but the perception is often skewed. If you aren’t married you will not feel obligated to stay and you will run at the first sign of conflict. I believe marriage is a sacred thing and the coming together of two souls should be respected as such; however, in today’s society it is not. I do not plan on getting married soon because people are getting married solely for love and it is not a stable foundation. I would prefer to build with someone and have a firm foundation prior to marriage versus marrying someone and discovering all their financial debts and inadequacies once it is too…

    • 2027 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One reason is changing social attitudes. Religion regarded cohabitation as ‘living in sin’, but today there is less shame attached to it. Barlow et al found increasing acceptance of cohabitation. This shows that the change in religions social attitude, cohabitation is accepted more, leading to an increase in cohabitation. Some people prefer love that focuses of on intimacy, closeness and emotion rather than the duties of marriage. Giddens argues that there has been a trend towards confluent love. This love focuses on the intimacy, closeness and emotion of a relationship, rather than the feelings of obligation and duty that is in vows at marriage. When a marriage no longer has confluent love, the relationship is likely to end. This shows that monogamy may start being replaced by serial monogamy, in which cohabitation is most suited to. However, the ONS found that 60% of cohabiting couples will eventually end in marriage showing that monogamy can often replace serial monogamy. There is less pressure to follow traditional norms and values. Beck and Beck-Gernshiem argue that individualism has led to changing attitudes towards cohabitation and marriage. There is less pressure to follow the norms and values around love and relationships set by family, religion or culture. This shows that the change in attitudes has led to people making their own decision about whether they marry or cohabitate. The acceptance of sex outside marriage has made it more likely that cohabitation will occur. Allan and Crow argue that effective contraception has made it possible for partners to cohabit without fear of pregnancy. This alongside the acceptance of sex before marriage means cohabitation without marriage is likely to occur. This shows that the change in social attitudes towards sex outside of marriage has led to an increase in cohabitation.…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” This beautiful quote is from the comedy, When Harry Met Sally. After Harry recited this line to Sally, she fell into his arms and began to passionately kiss him. This quote is not just about love, it also explains cohabitation and marriage. When couples fall in love they want to spend the rest of their lives together, just like Harry and Sally. After a person thinks about beginning the next chapter of their life with the one they love, two choices arise. One can marry their significant other or move in together without any strings attached.…

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wilson argued that the main problem with cohabitation is that people can just walk away. Therefore the custody of any children the union produced could be decided by one person up and leaving. Financially everything is typical split and offers no reason to stay together. Both partners in the relationship live in a constant fear of the other leaving. He states that the majority of people who choose to cohabit instead of marry are women who have carriers and lazy men who don’t want responsibility (Wilson).…

    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    We typically commit one person at a time. From an evolutionary perspective, monogamous pairing makes sense (parents who cooperated to nurture children more often passed on their genes to future generation). Bonds of love are most satisfying and enduring with a similarity of interests and values, emotional and material spot, and intimate self-disclosure. Those who commit with marriage more often endure, esp. after age 20. The divorce rate is 2x higher than 40 years ago, reflecting women's lessened economic dependence and people's rising expectations. Studies show that those who live together before marriage have higher rates of divorce and marital dysfunction because cohabiters tend to be initially less committed to the ideal of enduring marriage and then they become even less supporting during the…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1. Nancy Wartik discusses the difficulties of a couple living together before getting married. She talks about how living together before marriage can cause troubles later on in life during marriage and the possibility of splitting before marriage. Wartik says that cohabiting is becoming more popular now than ever before because it seems like a great way to test one another to see if they are really meant to be together. Some couples think they will save money and become closer to each other, but it’s not the case for everyone according to Wartik.…

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Marriage has been a long time traditional and sacred event that intends to keep a couple together for a life time. People have engaged in this activity to promote customs, traditions, and family values. It has been a long time tradition that most cultures participate in all over the world. In recent years it has become socially acceptable to live together before marriage or even not marry altogether. I have been married for 6 years. Of that six, my wife and I only lived unmarried together for a couple of weeks. We discussed early on some of our pet peeve’s that bothered us when living with others, such as family members. This is what I believed help our relationship and understanding of one another.…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I remember when my husband and I were dating and we both decided to move in with each other rather quickly. We both felt in order to really get to know one another; we had to see how compatible we both were. Because of this, in just a short three years, we were married but living together really proved to be a valuable lesson for the future. In today’s society many people are getting married and divorced at record rates which are really affecting people views psychologically when it comes to marriage vs. cohabitation; therefore, I plan on exploring both options to see how both of these options work.…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cohabitation is on the rise plain and simple, in the textbook on page 331 figure (9.1) shows that. In 1960 it shows that about .6 million couples were living together that were not married, this is what cohabiting means. Then fast forward 60 years and that number has jumped a crazy amount. Now that number that was .6 million, has risen to a little over 7.4 million couples living together. This graph is going straight up and I don’t see it stopping anytime soon. I am going to be talking about all the reason people are resorting to cohabitation. It is a smart move…

    • 1569 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1960 less than a half a million people cohabitated. Today that number is closer to five million people along with another half a million same sex couples living together. During the 1990s fifty-six percent of the marriages that occurred were preceded by living together first. There is greater than a fifty percent chance that a woman will marry if she has lived with the man for more than five years. More than half of high school seniors’ believe that it is a good idea to live together before marriage. If you are divorced you are more likely to cohabitate. There are advantages to living together before you are married. Economically it may provide a better life for the two people to be able share household expenses. People who are on public assistance may lose that assistance if they are married. College students may choose to live with their significant other secretly as to not lose their parents assistance. It also provides people with a way to share a life without the legal entanglements of marriage. Some people believe that cohabitation will strengthen their relationships and eventually lead to marriage. Other studies show that living together first show a divorce rate twice as high after ten years of marriage. Cohabitation may not actually be the cause of divorce though. Typically people who with less traditional views of marriage cohabitate together. Because they already value the idea less that may be what leads to eventual…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Another reason why couples shouldn’t live together before marriage is because you can find out how loyal they are.If you find out that he has been cheating or he’s just using you as a sex object, it can tear you guys apart. The other way is that your significant other is out with friends or even have an affair with another person while leaving you at home. If your significant other is distant all the time, a warning sign should pop…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Cohabitation In America

    • 106 Words
    • 1 Page

    Are your parents married? If so, were they married when they had you? Now, if an American were to be asked these two questions around seventy years ago, the answers would most likely have been yes; however that is not the case in today’s society. Recent studies have shown that marriages in America have taken a tremendous decline due to other alternatives than marriage. People are becoming more and more complacent with their significant other being just a partner rather than a spouse, better known as cohabitation. Although this trend is gaining more popularity in society, marriage in America is pertinent for growth as a nation.…

    • 106 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Meg Jay compared the cohabitation to a credit card when your signing up for it with a 0% interest and after a while it goes up and later after you cant keep up with the payments you feel stuck, and that's how it feels with the cohabitation. Today many people believe that if you end up living with the person you love that nothing will come out good that you would just be wasting your time. Another disadvantage of cohabiting would be if it doesn't work out then one person would up end losing everything. “The best time to work on someone’s marriage is before he or she has one” (Meg Jay).…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Essays

    • 3089 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Similar to money the issues of house chores affect marriage more than couples dating, since, a lot more responsibility is demanded by both spouses. House chores are to be shared equally, but some spouses in contemporary marriages challenges the relationships by not cooperating or pulling their weight in their duties.…

    • 3089 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays