Living Together without Marriage: Modern View or Your Step to Abyss
Is getting close without living together possible? Or cohabitation is inevitable in modern society?
Cohabitation, or living together without marriage, has become a common thing in the US, Canada, the UK, and all over the world. Only Muslim countries seem to stand away from modern changes of society structure.
It’s natural to live together without marriage. It’s a good way to get to know each other very close and to see whether you are compatible, etc. Cohabitation became a trend in the 70s, but much has changed since that time. In the 70s some 70% cohabitating couples get married, now only 40% or even less. Does it mean that more people go on living without marrying or couples break?
Research shows that the latter is true, surprisingly often. Just 25% women and 19% men get married after cohabitating. More than that, couples who get maried after cohabitating have higher divorce rates. Why does this happen? The decision to live together can be untimely for youth or people realize that’s not a person you want to make a commitment to.
Couples who live together happily for several years have already discussed the issue of marriage and agreed to get married a bit later, when they are emotionally ready, financially independent, so on and so forth. And some day one of partners begins talking about legal marriage. The other partner sometimes answers he isn’t ready yet. What does this mean? That person has changed his mind about getting married with the partner, but simply is afraid of making the first step in breaking your relationship? I hardly can see any other variant, because if you have been sharing the same flat, have been spending weekends together, and already know each other’s parents, and everything was alright what can marriage change?
P. S. Just an interesting fact: when men having open relations are asked about their marital status, 80% answered they are single. When the same question is posed to women, they unanimously tell they are married. Curious stats…
March 21st, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Your stats are correct that many people who co-habitate never get married, and the ones that do have a high divorce rate. It needs to be considered that the 21st century idea that love is a feeling, and if it feels good do it, and follow your heart have continually failed us. the reason for all of this is that we have forgetten what it is to be committed to one another. our love has become so shallow that as soon as one does not feel “in love” they bail out. feelings come and go. the foundation has to be commitment. this is what takes people through bad times and bad breath. there is a level of relationship and DEEP love that our generation will miss out on if we fail to grasp this.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:18 am
Yeah, JB, you are so right. I just wonder why do we keep missing the point?
April 1st, 2008 at 11:34 pm
BTW, I just read that in North Carolina living together without getting married is illegal. And even a lawsuit was there, but I haven’t found yet what it results in.