Co-Habitation
Living together before marriage is quickly becoming a preferred lifestyle in America. Some people consider this "living in sin," others call it "living in unwedded bliss." Every year more unwedded couples make the choice to live with each other before the marriage. Recent figures show, the number of cohabiting couples has steadily increased 700% since the 1960s. During the 1960s, there were one cohabiting couple for every ninety married couples. Today those figures are one cohabiting couple for every twelve married couples. If this trend continues, in America there will be seven married couples for each cohabiting couple in 2010 (A Few Facts). For some people living together is a good idea, but for those who wish to remain married for life, cohabitation may not be the best choice because statistics indicate it increases their chances of divorce.Cohabitation is defined by The American Heritage Dictionary as ". . . [living] together in a sexual relationship when not legally married. Current figures suggest that approximately 2/3 of the U.S. population will live with their partner before marriage (Jabusch 14). This rise in cohabitation indicates that people want intimate relationships, but prefer them to be more flexible and
Living together before marriage is not a good idea for couples planning on building a solid, long lasting, and stable relationship. The idea of cohabitating before marriage is not a good plan, especially if the couple is using cohabitation as a trial marriage. Their relationship is based on me instead of based on us , which makes them afraid to make a commitment. Marriage means that a couple has mutually agreed to stick together through good and bad, not just month to month as a rental agreement. Instead they want to see if there is still love between them after they have cooked meals together, cleaned the apartment together, and have slept in the same bed for extended periods. However, there are several warning signs that indicate living together before marriage may not be a good choice. Thus, their habits and mentality usually reflect a total commitment. Despite the recent rise in cohabitation and its increased acceptance by society, many studies show that cohabitation actually poses risks to the stability of a relationship and to the happiness of those in that relationship. The only valid reasons for cohabitation are to save money and for easy access to sex. Couples who decide to live with each other before marriage are just demonstrating their immaturity and total lack of commitment so prevalent in our self-centered and pleasure-oriented society. Cohabitation allows an individual to experience such as values, habits, reactions, behavioral patterns, and overall relationship requirements. Cohabitation does not always lead to marriage, although many couples living together say they plan on eventually getting married. This can be a shaky situation that precedes marriage because of the bad habits that have been experienced. Cohabiting couples have not dedicated their lives to one another; instead they have left a door open for an easy exit. Cohabiting couples are more inclined to lead separate lives and less likely to maintain a monogamous sexual relationship than couples who are married.
Common topics in this essay:
Fields Cohabiting,
Heritage Dictionary,
,
cohabiting couple,
cohabiting couples,
married couples,
live marriage,
living marriage,
people choose,
lower quality relationships,
cohabitation lead marriage,
cohabitation lead,
lower quality,
quality relationships,
cohabitation save money,
relationship couples,
|
Acceptance Essays
