Cohabitation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Cohabitation - Essay ExampleThe direct of the disjoint rate is covering up the instability in the rising rate of cohabitation that is being passed from multiplication to generation.Cohabitation outside marriage sociologically changes the formation of the family unit. In a cohabitation arrangement, there is no legal loyalty on the part of the spouses in regards to property and long-term child c be arrangements. Because it leaves the children at risk, and due to religious and moral values, the act of cohabitation often carries a certain amount of social stigma with it. Yet, research has as well shown that couples who cohabitate argon significantly more likely to get separated if the cohabitation progresses into marriage. A study by DeMaris and Rao (1992) cerebrate that cohabitors afford a higher hazard of dissolution at any given time since marriage. and cohabitors are estimated to have a hazard of dissolution that is about 46% higher than for noncohabitors (p.183). The increas ed rate of divorce among previously cohabitating couples may be a product of an instability in the descent from the beginning. According to Bumpass, Sweet, and Cherlin (1991), approximately 40% of cohabiting unions in the United States break up without the couple getting espouse, and this tends to occur rather quickly. By about one and one-half social classs, half of cohabiting couples have either married or broken up (p.917). Whether the cohabitation arrangement dissolves quickly, or ends in divorce after a later marriage, the prospects for a cohabitating couple are significantly worse than for a couple that marries without ever cohabitating. The rates of divorce and cohabitation have been historically metric by the nose count Bureau. According to Fitch, Goeken, and Ruggles (2005), The acronym POSSLQ-Persons (or Partners) of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters-was coined by Census Bureau staff in the late 1970s. POSSLQ households-termed Unmarried Couple Households by the Cen sus Bureau-are composed of cardinal unrelated adults of the opposite sex (one of whom is the householder) who share a housing unit with or without the presence of children to a lower place 15 years old (p.2). Divorce rates in theUnited States rose sharply in the decimal point of 1960-1980 followed Chart 1 Source (Schoen & Canudus-Romo)by a leveling off period through the year 2000 (See Chart 1). During this same period, the Percentage of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters rates have continued to rise sharply (See Chart 2). Chart 2 Source (Fitch, Goeken, & Ruggles)An interesting aspect of the divorce and cohabitation rates is that as the cohabitation rate was low and remained steady from 1960-1970, the divorce rate rose sharply. However, during the period of 1975-2005, cohabitation rates have risen dramatically, while the divorce rate has remained steady. From a psychological standpoint, it would seem that a relationship that has transgressed from a cohabitation arrangement to a marriage would have a better chance of success. The partners would be beaten(prenominal) with each others living habits and the commitment to marriage would be based on a well certain couple. As would be expected, cohabitation has a higher dissolution rate than marriage, but this also extends to the couples who have married and now experience a higher divorce rate. Several studies have confirmed that couples who have