Living Together
Should We Live Together
A careful review of the available social science evidence suggests that living together is not a good way to prepare for marriage or to avoid divorce. Whats more, it shows that the rise in cohabitation is not a positive family trend. Cohabiting unions tend to weaken the institution of marriage and pose clear and present dangers for women and children.
Living together before marriage is one of Americas most significant and unexpected family trends. By simple definition, living together or unmarried cohabitation is the status of couples who are sexual partners, not married to each other, and sharing a household. By 1997, the total number of unmarried couples in America topped 4 million, up from less than half a million in 1960. It is estimated that about a quarter of unmarried women between the ages of 25 and 39 are currently living with a partner and about half have lived at some time with an unmarried partner (the data are typically reported for women but not for men). Over half of all first marriages are now preceded by cohabitation, compared to virtually none earlier in
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