Family Sociology Cohabitation

Cohabitation Let’s begin with a definition of cohabitation: Cohabitation: The sharing of a household by unmarried individuals who have a sexual relationship Generally there are two types of cohabitation 1) Both partners plan to marry each other in the near future. 2) Cohabitation as alternative to marriage.

Cohabitation The Census Bureau refers to cohabitors as: Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters or POSSLQs

Currently Cohabiting vs. Ever Cohabited Cohabiting is now the typical pathway to marriage About 6.6 percent of all households are unamarried partners This is the measure of cohabiting at a given point in time A larger proportion of people have ever cohabited More than 2/3 percent of marriages today are preceded by cohabitation (source, Kennedy & Bumpass, 2007, Manning and Cohen, 2010)

Two Decades of Trends in the Percentage of Women 19-44 Who Cohabited Prior to Marriage

Two Decades of Trends by Age in the Percentage of women 19-44 who Ever Cohabited

Cohabitation In 2010, Census Bureau estimates of cohabitation The Census calls these couples unmarried partners Of these: 6.8 million are unmarried opposite-sex partners and 646,500 are unmarried same-sex partners Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2010

Cohabitation Cohabiting couples have higher break up rates than married couples About ½ of cohabiting couples either break-up or marry within 1 year. 9 in 10 cohabiting couples marry within 5 years.

Cohabitation Whether a cohabiting relationship ends in marriage or a breakup depends, on why people are living together. Those with the lowest levels of commitment (dating cohabitation) are more likely to split up than those in a premarital cohabitation, (Lichter and Qian, 2008).

Cohabitation New research Manning and Cohen used data from a National Survey collected from 2006 – 2008 The survey included women who were married since 1996 They found NO differnce in divorce rates between those who cohabited prior to marriage and those who did not cohabit Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-hughes/does-cohabitation-cause-d_b_1776099.html

Cohabitation There are many different ways to conceive of cohabitation: An alternative, but more intimate form of single life A stage in the process of becoming married A distinct arrangement unlike being single or married

Cohabitation Another big change associated with cohabitation is the increase in the cohabiting households “with children present” 1 in 5 children are born to unmarried, cohabitating couples. 2 in 5 are expected to be living in a cohabitating couple by the age of 12.

Data on Cohabitation on the CDC http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_23/sr23_022.pdf

Cohabitation What are some of the reasons for the rise in cohabitation? 1) Feminism Increase in female education Increased employment opportunities for women Career goals changed, more jobs opening to women. Women’s increasing participation in the paid workforce means less economic need to depend on a man in marriage.  

Cohabitation In sum: Because women have the potential for greater independence, they may be less willing to commit to a relationship, until they “try it out”

Cohabitation What are some of the reasons for the rise in cohabitation? 2) Sexual Revolution Ø    Development of better contraceptive technologies In other words, people could plan when to have children This was a very revolutionary concept Ø    More sexual permissiveness and along with that -- pre- marital sex has become more readily accepted  

Cohabitation What are some of the reasons for the rise in cohabitation? 3) Major cultural shifts have occurred in U.S., thus our society in general has become Ø    less religious Ø    less bound by social conformity Ø    more individual autonomy and greater freedom of choice People no longer do things just because “that’s the way it’s done”  

Cohabitation Among what group of people in the U.S. did cohabitation first start? Cohabitation began in the lower classes  then moved to middle classes Ø    More advantageous for minorities and poorer whites with low economic status Ø    Male income and employment is lower  

Cohabitation   Male economic status is still an important determinant of ability to marry and why women want to marry him Thus, marriage will be less likely if the male or couple is poor

Cohabitation A second reason why cohabitation has been more common among the poor: Many social programs will cut off benefits for people (particularly women) who marry – Social Security Alimony Welfare New Welfare reform laws have changed this – you no longer immediately lose benefits if you marry  

Characteristics of Cohabitating Couples Cohabitors more likely to have a woman who earns more money than man than married couples Cohabitors have higher rates of being interracial than married couples Cohabitors have higher rates of sexual frequency and are more likely break up if frequency is low (compared to married couples) In sum – cohabitors are less traditional than married couples