Friday, July 5, 2013

Types of Cohabitation

Cohabitation has been described as "one of the fastest growing family forms in the United States." (Duncan, 2004). It is also very popular in other countries, especially European countries. In the United States in 2011 there were 7.599 million couples cohabiting, and of all the couples currently living together 11.6% of them are unmarried. There are three main forms of cohabitation.

Part-time cohabitation- Also know as limited cohabitation. This is when a couple lives together for a short time with no plans for a long-term commitment. These unions are based on convenience, such as financial and sexual accessibility.
Premarital cohabitation- Is when the couple lives together in preparation for marriage. Many times these unions are considered a trial marriage. They start with the idea that living together will reduce a couples chance of divorce later on. When in reality the opposite is true.
Substitute marriage- This type of cohabitation is the most common among older couples. The couple decides to live together long-term without any plans for marriage.

Cavanaugh, J. C., & Blanchard-Fields, F. (2011). Adult development and aging 6th edition. California: Cengage Learning.  
Duncan, W. C. The social good of marriage and legal responses to non-marital cohabitation. 82 OregonLaw Review 1001. (2004) 
National Marriage Project. (2012). The state of our unions: marriage in america 2012. 

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