Does Cohabitation build a stronger, more successful marriage - Term Paper Example

This means that experience of children with cohabitation should stay fairly low, cohabitation should often switch into marriage, and the standard length of a phase of cohabitation should be quite short (Manning 1995). Even though Casper and Bianchi (2002 as cited in Heuveline & Timberlake 2004) differentiated between antecedent to marriage and ‘experimental’ marriage founded on the encouragement of individuals cohabiting in relation to marriage, some researchers differentiate this form of marriage, on the basis of the definite decision to marry and bear a child.

Cohabitation is a phase in the process of marriage instead of a preface to marriage when live-in couples who make a decision to have a child fail to sense firmly the accurate timing and order of marriage and childbearing (Brown & Booth 1996). Hence, cohabitation does not necessarily build a stronger or successful marriage. My report makes the following recommendations: If you feel strongly or solemn about marriage you should perhaps decide not to enter cohabitation before marriage. (1) If ever you decide to cohabit prior to marriage it would be sensible to have a definite knowledge of or plan for your relationship.

If either or both of you is/are reluctant to plan about your relationship then it is time to rethink the decision to cohabit. It is better to end a relationship than to cohabit without a definite plan for the future. (2) Marriage is evidently a strong foundation for couples. It is important to have legitimate children. The absence of a committed and stable relationship will put the children at great risk. Definition of Cohabitation Cohabitation is broadly defined as couples living together in a set up similar to married couples (USLegal 2011, para 1).

Statutes differ in their definition of cohabitation. A number of state laws declare cohabitation a component of adultery which makes it a criminal offense (ibid, para 1). Cohabitation is defined in one state law as ‘regularly residing with an adult of the same or opposite sex, if the parties hold themselves out as a couple, and regardless of whether the relationship confers a financial benefit on the party receiving alimony. Proof of sexual relations is admissible but not required to prove cohabitation’ (USLegal 2011, para 1).

However, Georgia’s law identifies cohabitation as ‘dwelling together continuously and openly in a meretricious relationship with another person, regardless of the sex of the other person’ (ibid, para 1). Popularity of Cohabitation A widespread social pattern of the recent decades is the increase in cohabitation and the drop in marriage. A large number of couples are happy to cohabit (Goodwin et al. 2010). Cohabitation has increasingly been accepted by the society even though it opposes the most basic principles of Christianity.

Present-day society rarely differentiates between married couples and cohabiting ones (Manning 1995). Prevalence of Cohabitation Roughly 9% were found in 2002 to be cohabiting, which is identified in the report of Goodwin and colleagues (2010) as an unmarried woman and man living together, while ‘46% of women aged 15-44 were currently married’ (ibid, p. 2). The popularity of marriage is higher among non-Hispanic White women and men than those of non-Hispanic black. Figures for Hispanic women and men