Premarital Cohabitation Essay Example for Free

Pre marital Cohabitation EssayOver the past 30 years countries check experienced a phenomenon that has raised many questions about the future of the institution of sexual union. Western societies, such as the United States, Canada, and countries in Western Europe down witnessed a virtual explosion in the number of unmarried cohabitating couples. Quite a number of studies have been done to research what effect, if any, this trend has on the accompanying marriage, and how does this affect any children as a result of this union. jibe to some estimates, since the 1970s, the number of couples that live in concert has much than tripled.However, on that point are twain sides to the legend one, proposes that premarital cohabitation is like a trial marriage and allows people to eventually marry the one they are more comfortable and compatible with. The other nous of view is that premarital cohabitation leads to a high come apart set up in the society and may also have othe r negative effectuate. However, research suggests that there is little merit to the claim that cohabitation effectively serves as a trial marriage. Furthermore, studies indicate that premarital cohabitation is actually detrimental because it leads to higher divorce rates and dissolving of marriage.Why Would People Prefer to Cohabit To understand the effects of cohabitation it is necessary to review why people cohabit in the first place. About 50% of cohabitating individuals express the belief that living together without is a way to determine compatibility in the ancestor getting married. Based on the premise that premarital cohabitation allows couples to determine compatibility, this send should result in more stable marriages. However, evidence suggests that the contrary is true. Cohabitation is linked to lower trains of marital satisfaction.Couples who previously lived together are root worded to spend less(prenominal) time together in shared activities. They report higher l evels of marital disagreement, less supportive behavior, less problem-solving, more marital problems, and greater perceived likeliness of marital dissolution (Amato 2003). Premarital Cohabitation Leads to Higher Divorce Rates Research has shown that cohabitation is extremely smooth. For example, Canada has experienced a ninefold increase in the numbers of cohabitating couples, as well as a fourfold increase in the number of divorces over the past 30 years.Recent studies have not only indicated that cohabitation is negatively linked to marital stability, but studies also indicate that living in common law is related to a decrease in quality of marriage (Hall 1995). In a survey conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies Family Formation Project showed that after 5 years of being married, 13 per cent of those who had cohabited before marriage would divorce, versus six per cent of non-cohabiters. Ten years later, the difference increased to 26 per cent for those who had c ohabited and 14 per cent for those who had not. aft(prenominal) 20 years, there was a further increase of 56 per cent of people who had cohabited versus 27 per cent of those who had not (Weston 2007). Many reasons are cited for the resulting instability and the higher divorce rate among motive couples who formerly cohabitated. Cohabitators are thought to hold more unconventional values and attitudes than those who marry without cohabitating. Those who cohabitate are thought to have a weaker commitment to marriage in general, or they may have higher expectations about the quality of marriage than those who do not cohabitate.Cohabitators are also thought to have socioeconomic or personality characteristics that are linked to higher likelihood of union dissolution (Dourleijn 2006). Among these socioeconomic and personality factors which are thought to be linked to higher instances of marital dissolution are parental divorce, less education, lower income, premarital pregnancy and child birth, being non-white, and having had a previous divorce (Cohan 2002). According to research conducted and published in the American Sociological Review, it was concluded that Overall association exists between premarital cohabitation and subsequent marital instability.The dissolution rates of women who cohabit premaritally with their future spouse are, on average, nearly 80 part higher than the rates of those who do not. (Bennett, Blanc, and Bloom 1988). Based on the US data, researchers have shown that marriages that are preceded by living together have 50 per cent higher disruption rates than marriages without premarital cohabitation. In Sweden, researched showed that cohabiters were more probable to divorce even if the period of marriage is counted from the beginning of cohabitation.A subsequent study also found that premarital cohabitation, regardless of the nature or reason it is associated with an increased risk of marital instability. Based on the work of Bennett, Blanc and Bloom (1987) whose findings correspond with previous findings, the following conclusions can be made knowing that cohabiters and non-cohabiters differ in the sense of higher risk of divorce, the researchers hard-boiled about to explore if there are other characteristics which were unique to these two groups, or a factor which can show that it is not premarital cohabitation only if which leads to higher divorce rate.While no one factor was found to support the argument that cohabitation caused the difference, researchers did not find a characteristic to dispute the argument. According to their data sample, women who cohabited were younger than those who did not. They are also more likely to have had a premarital conception, and were twice as likely to have had a premarital birth. For those who marry at a young age, or who have had a premarital birth have higher divorce rates. However, the first birth indoors a marriage has a stabilizing effect, and for these couples divorce r ates are one quarter lower. These results are consistent with previous research.In 1985, it was found that for any year of age an adult attains before marrying, the risk of dissolution decreases by 16%. Education achieved for women is negatively related with the possibility of divorce. However, for this aspect other factors may also be involved. When social background was considered, similar findings were found. Social background is measured by using the occupation of the main breadwinner in the household. This factor indicates level of education achieved, parents marital status etc. It was found that women in households with a white collar worker as the breadwinner had higher divorce rates than other women.Another interesting finding concerns the duration of how long the couple have been together. The researchers assume that people who cohabit can be almost divided into two groups those who believe in the institution of marriage, and those who dont. In such a case, the less commi tted group should be seen to have higher divorce rates. This should be observable if the relationship between cohabitation and dissolution should decrease with increase in duration. This is proved by the data researchers had collected. Their findings show that for up to two years of marriage the divorce rates of people who had cohabited before was almost three times.This reduced to twice for people who were married for two to eight years. After eight years, the differences in divorce rates of cohabiters and non-cohabiters are statistically insignificant. Thus one interpretation of this is the fact that people who cohabit have characteristics that make them more likely to have higher chances of a divorce. Another finding points to the fact that women who cohabit premaritally for more than three years have a 54 percent higher divorce rate than those who have cohabitated for shorter periods of time. This is because the former groups of people have such characteristics which make them l ess willing to commit.These include valuing ones independency and being more self-reliant (Bennett 1987). Other Adverse Effects The increase in the rate of premarital cohabitation raises important concerns about the institution of marriage from a societal perspective. One concern is that individuals may find cohabitation to be an attractive arrangement and will be more likely to view marriage as undesirable. Another concern is that the high rate of dissolution among couples will reinforce the view that intimate relationships are fragile and temporary, thereby reducing the view within society that marriage is a rewarding lifetime commitment.In addition, research shows that cohabitation is linked to delayed marriage, an increase in nonmarital fertility, less commitment to marriage, and greater acclamation of divorce and nonmarital cohabitation. Furthermore, societies which have experienced a sharp increase in premarital cohabitation rates have also experienced an upward trend in divo rce, premarital sex, and premarital pregnancy rates, while marriage and marital fertility rates have declined (Balakrishnan 1995). ConclusionAlthough a number of individuals believe that cohabitation provides a convey by which couples may determine their compatibility before getting married, there is a vast body of strong evidence that suggests otherwise. Married couples who previously lived together report high levels of marital disagreement, spend less time together, and are more likely believe that their marriage will end in dissolution. These couples tend to be less supportive of each other, and they institute fewer problem solving skills.Cohabitation has been linked to lower commitment levels among couples, diminished views on the marital relationship in general, and a higher divorce rate. These ill effects are directly linked to the cohabitation trend, which has exploded over the course of the past few decades. Researchers believe that cohabitation leads to unstable marriages because those who cohabitate tend to have weaker commitment to marriage in general, or they may have higher expectations for the quality of married life. Cohabitators are also more likely to hold unconventional views on marriage.It has also been observed that those who cohabitate tend to have other socioeconomic and individual characteristics that are linked to a higher rate of marriage dissolution. In addition to the higher divorce rate that seems to be directly related to the dramatic increase in cohabitation, other undesirable effects have also resulted. Societies that have experienced a surge in premarital or nonmarital cohabitation have also seen a sharp increase in premarital pregnancies, delayed marriage, and greater acceptance and approval of divorce and nonmarital cohabitation.