Cohabitation

Cohabitation, or living together without marriage, is a dramatic, significant change in the way many adults in our country evolve from being single to being married. The majority of all U.S. marriages today involve cohabitation before the wedding. Between 1974 and 1994, the percentage of marriages preceded by cohabitation increased from 10 percent to 56 percent. In addition, recent surveys of single young adults in five large cities show that the majority of both men and women in …

…measures of success and happiness (e.g., emotional health, physical health, and personal wealth) if they are married rather than living together. Cohabitation has more costs than rewards but, unfortunately, continues to be popular, especially among young adults, even though cohabitors fail to receive the benefits or avoid the risks they think they will. People need to know that cohabitation fails to bring couples the happiness and stability they desire in a close personal relationship.