We are very involved in gentrifying neighborhoods and bringing them back. Straight unmarried couples, both with and without children, also face more tolerance of cohabitation, said Lyn Lewis, chairman of the sociology department at University of Detroit Mercy. And that has led to couples who are more selfish and refuse to make a commitment to each other, said Bud Ozar, director of the office of family and youth for the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. While the church will marry people who have lived together, it encourages couples to separate before marriage. But I think it might be a while before this turns around.
Many couples look beyond religion when deciding to cohabitate.
Lewis said finances play a role. And after three years of living together, they are engaged to be married in February 2003. For other couples, the fear of divorce may have prevented the trip down the aisle. So people are going to be less likely to run to the altar. Keeping up with flood of newcomers becomes Macomb Twp.