The Rise of Non-Marital Cohabitation: Review and Analysis of Existing Research

Beginning in the 1970’s, young adults are more likely to announce that they are moving in with a partner rather than entering marriage. As rates of legal marriage between ages 16-26 are continuing to decline, the rates of cohabitation are rising two-fold. Compared to previous decades, individuals in our society are now more hesitant to enter marriage and are more likely to try out their relationships through cohabitation before making a commitment. Archival research on pre-engagement cohabitation suggests that, contrary to popular culture beliefs, preengagement cohabitation is a predictor of both marital divorce in marriages and relationship dissatisfaction. Despite the abundance of data on the adverse effects of cohabitation on subsequent marriage, young adults are increasingly continuing to engage in pre-marital cohabitation. Having noticed these contradictions, this study embarked on a quest to determine why the numbers of cohabitors are continuing to rise. The conclusions of this study propose that the existing research on cohabitation has overlooked important variables when comparing cohabitation and marriage and that the success of a marriage that comes out of cohabitation is mainly related to the level of commitment, intentions to eventually formalize their relationship, level of satisfaction, and overall well-being of the individuals rather than the status of their relationship prior to marriage. The Rise of Non-­‐Marital Cohabitation: Review and Analysis of Existing Research 3 Introduction / Background/ Hypothesis A popular relationships blog led by Thomas Bradbury, a clinical psychologist and an expert in intimate relationships and marriage, titled Testing, testing: How does living together affect a marriage sparked a question that I decided to pursue in my research thesis (Bradbury, 2013). Bradbury examined why it is that couples in the modern day seem to prefer testing their compatibility in a shared home setting and are more likely than previous generations to enter cohabitation, a living arrangement without legal bounds, rather than marriage. Citing Bumpass and Lu, (2000), Bradbury notes that, “half of all couples entering their first marriage today, live together – or cohabit before marriage, and there are at least 10 times as many couples living together today than there were just 30 years ago” (p. 32). Bradbury also cites findings from a study by Kline et al., (2004), which suggested that in comparison to couples who did not cohabit before engagement, cohabiting couples, reported higher rates of verbal aggression and more negative interactions, and overall, faced more relationship risks after marriage. Bradbury mainly addresses the misfit between the rising trends in cohabition and the research that shows its negative effects on subsequent marriage. These findings question the notion of an “advantage” to cohabitation due to which the numbers of individuals preferring to cohabit are rising. The research proposed herein seeks to explore why cohabitation has become increasingly popular, what the advantages and disadvantages of cohabitation might be, and whether the negative effects of cohabitation on marriage proposed by earlier research has possibly overlooked some important individual variables. The Rise of Non-­‐Marital Cohabitation: Review and Analysis of Existing Research 4 The research on pre-engagement cohabitation and subsequent marriage, detailed in the next section, shows an overarching trend in the negative effects of cohabitation on future legally bound relationships. Even so, U.S. Census Bureau data illustrate, that the number of individuals choosing to cohabit has grown rapidly across several decades (Fig. 7). Despite these increasing trends, research on cohabitation in relation to the economic and personal well being of the couple shows some negative outcomes. For example, cohabiting couples generally are of a lower socioeconomic status and are more likely to remain at that level for the duration of cohabitation, whereas, married couples tend to be at a higher socioeconomic status and are generally economically more stable than cohabiting couples (Hsueh, Morrison, & Doss, 2009). More so, Wilmoth and Koso (2002) report that, “compared to those continuously The Rise of Non-­‐Marital Cohabitation: Review and Analysis of Existing Research 5 married, those who never marry have a reduction in wealth of 75 percent, and those who divorced and didn’t remarry have a reduction of 73 percent” (p. 262). By the way of explanation, Chun and Lee (1991) note, “because of marital social norms that encourage healthy, productive behavior, men tend to become more economically productive after marriage” (p.315). Their study suggests that contrary to cohabitation, marriage is a force that ignites proactive behavior in both partners towards building a foundation for a strong future for themselves and their children. Despite the abundance of research on adverse effects of pre-engagement cohabitation and contrasting reports on the benefits of marriage, I’m baffled by the steeply rising numbers in cohabiting couples as presented in figure 7. Perhaps there are other individual variables that the existing research has overlooked which act as a protecting factor in the cohabiting couples and allow for their relationships to grow without adverse effects. I hypothesize that the traditional model of marriage, one that is rooted in the patriarchal system, is no longer fully applicable to the modern day society and couples are now choosing to cohabit for mutual social and possibly monetary benefit and this choice will not adversely affect their potential for a healthy marriage. The Rise of Non-­‐Marital Cohabitation: Review and Analysis of Existing Research 6 Overview of the Literature It is now a common practice that emerging adults cohabit regardless of future marriage intentions (Stanley, Rhoades, & Fincham, 2011). With availability of birth control and the increased likelihood of non-marital sex, the concept of cohabiting among never married adults is fundamentally changing and is becoming a part of our society, but has yet to be accepted by the majority of the older population (Stanley et al., 2011). The main focus of initial literature on cohabitation is to show the relationship between pre-engagement cohabitation and marriage following cohabitation among never married adults. In a 2004 study on cohabitation, researchers Kline, Stanley, and Markman hypothesized that engagement status at the point at which the couple begins to cohabit is the key factor and predictor of the quality of marriage (Kline, 2004). While most research prior to year 2004 focused on cohabitation in general and its effects on the quality of the following marriage, this study particularly looked at the status of couples at the time they decide to cohabit. The findings showed that cohabitation post-engagement did not have any effects on the success of marriage and in general showed similarities with couples that did not cohabit until after marriage. However, couples that cohabited before engagement were at greater risk for poor marital outcomes, those poor marital outcomes that often include aggression in communication and relationship dissatisfaction were later categorized as the cohabitation effect. Multiple studies conducted by researchers worldwide suggest that the adverse effects of cohabitation are limited to those couples that move in together without explicit plans to marry. Studies following the wave of research on the cohabitation effect began to focus on the quality and specific characteristics of married relationships among the previously cohabiting couples. A study by Kenney and McLanahan (2006) focused on high rates of violence in The Rise of Non-­‐Marital Cohabitation: Review and Analysis of Existing Research 7 cohabiting couples that carried over into later marriage and that is also likely to be the cause of divorce (Kenney, 2006). This research in particular emphasized differences in selection of cohabitation and marriage, including selection of the least violent cohabiting couples and mostviolent married couples. Later, Hsueh described the general characteristics of cohabiting couples’ relationships to include a variety of conflicts, such as communication problems, arguments, emotional problems, and affection-distance that may carry over into marriage.