Lauren Abers

Mrs. Cramer

College Composition Pd.5A

7 Dec 2018

The Disaster Known as Cohabitation

A woman by the name of Susan moves into an apartment with her boyfriend of a year.

They argued a ton on where to live, but soon found a place to call their own. Within six months

of them living together, they started fighting and he got abusive. Susan starts to think this

arrangement was rushed but couldn’t get out of it now because she was pregnant with his baby. 1

This is known as a state of cohabitation. Cohabitation is when two people live together outside of

wedlock. These people are normally dating at the time of moving in together. This arrangement

isn't mean to last forever. Some use it as a tool during engagement or premarital pregnancy. This

situation isn't always the smartest idea. Cohabitation is a terrible decision that often ends in

divorce and caused by unpreventable events like premarital pregnancy.

Since the increased popularity to cohabitation in the recent years, the divorce rates have

risen and are predicated to continue to rise over the next year. According to US Census more

than half of all current marriages end in divorce (Goldstein). That means that if 20 couples get

married in 2019, 10 of them will be divorced or attempting to be divorced within a year. Many

see cohabitation as a first try marriage where they can learn more about each other and learn how

1 Anecdote-A Short Story- It gives a real-life situation about cohabitation

to handle situations as a couple. This doesn’t always end well because it can cause a couple to

argue more and not be able to handle situations when situations that arise in marriage happen.

According to Springer, there has been an increased spike in the divorce rate since the 1950s

when cohabitation started. Prior to the 1950s the divorce rate was lower than three percent, after

the war ended it increased by at least twenty percent. With this increase in cohabitation other

things came along with it. Psychology Today says “many studies have shown that premarital

cohabitation is associated with an increased risk of divorce, lower quality marriage, poorer

marital communication and higher levels of domestic violence. “Many people don’t expect this

to be true. Many think that it is a way of starting a new life together. When it comes to things

like domestic violence, it happens to those in cohabitation since the partner doesn’t know their

significant other can be abusive and then something sets them off and they end up being abused.”

(Ben-Zeev) With the recent data on cohabitation and divorce, it seems that cohabitation is just

one way to have a terrible marriage.

As stated early, many people enter Cohabitation to test the waters of a possible new

marriage. This seems like a smart idea simply because the person gets to see how the other

person lives in real life. Also, the cohabiters always get to see how the other acts. Though it does

seem like a good idea to learn about the others bad habits, messy qualities, etc. prior to being

married to them, it doesn’t always end the best way. Some situations will arise that can cause

problems. In legal terms, if you live with someone for a long time without being married the

other will be known as a common-law husband or wife. For example, say a guy’s girlfriend gets

into a car accident and ends up in a coma. After the allotted amount of time that a person can be

in a coma before they are considered brain dead, someone must make the decision on whether to

pull the plug or not. In a common law relationship, the significant other cannot make the
decision. A parent or other legal guardian must be brought in and they are required to be the ones

to make the decision. Now if they truly loved each other they would want to be able to make the

decision. Additionally, the father of the child will be required to take a paternity test to determine

that the child that was just born is his. If this child is not, he cannot sign the birth certificate

(Family Final Law). This seems like something that wouldn’t end well and could lead to

problems when they returned home from the hospital. Also, in the future the child will have no

clue who its true father is. In conclusion, there will be no true understanding of how the

relationship will go because legal issues will always get in the way.

Those who think about cohabitation think that they will have help spliting the cost of

living in half and live a more wealth, long and health relationship. Statistically single woman

makes around 18,701 dollars, married woman makes between 20,281 and 22,419 dollars,

cohabiters make the less of the three with only 16,607 dollars (Scelbo) 2. It is also known that the

longer that a male is married the higher the wages will be for them. This is because unmarried

life can tend to take a toll on the males' idea of life and how to function. Though there is a way

that unmarried couples can function and have certain wages is all based on how long they are

together. Yet most cohabiting couples don’t last long and neither do marriages after cohabitation.

This is because of the low-quality items that come with cohabitation. Also, most married couples

tend to be together longer than those in cohabitation. This normally is because they know most

of the ways that their significant other is going to act and know a way around it and how to work

things out. Their cost of living is also higher because those who are cohabitation are more likely

to live in bigger city areas. This simply because of the higher job opportunity in the big cities.

The problem with this is that the costs in the city are higher and you aren't making as much when

2 Logos-Appeal to Logic- to describe the cost of each situation

you start out at a new job. In conclusion, though the cost of living may be split, the wages are

lower and the cost of living in the city is higher. As well as, the relationship won't last as long

living you in a situation.

Many couples jump straight into cohabiting because they think it’s the best way to test a

marriage and because of things like premarital childbirth. In the early 1990s high school students

thought that it was a really good idea to move in with their significant others because “It would

give a good idea of what they are like and whether it’s a relationship you would want to be in

(Goldstein)3.” The problem with this is that you might find out things about that person that you

don’t want to know. This can also lead you into an abusive relationship. Also, situations like this

are a way to get pregnant before marriage. This can cause more problems with the cohabiting

couples because most are not ready to have a child. Normally one of things is that most of the

time these parents who are not married are the ones who don’t make enough money to support

themselves let alone their child (Reeves, Krause). Married parents are also ready to have a child.

They can get the things they need to support their child like food, cribs, car seats, etc. Most of

the time women don’t want to tell their parents they got pregnant prior to marriage because it can

lead to a worse situation. Additionally, married couples have enough money to start a college

fund for their children because they have a higher income. This means that only specific children

can go to college and those of cohabiting parents might never get to go to college because they

can't afford it. This can lead a child to have mental issues and live a life of despair. Issues that a

person thinks can be resolved by moving in with their partner before even thinking about

3 Pathos- Indirect word makes something seem less harsh- they don’t see the severity
marriage is a terrible idea. They will need to find a better solution to figure out the problem

before they damage their child's future.

Cohabitation can lead to a multitude of problems in the future. This is simply because

people believe that cohabitation has no negative effects. Cohabitation is normally caused because

people enter it due to issues like premarital pregnancy. It also leads to a higher divorce rate.

These issues are not helping the population and are cause more children to have mental issues.

Susan should have thought about the decision to move in with her boyfriend a little more before

she did. She is now in an abusive relationship that she can't get out of because she's pregnant

with his baby and her parents won't take her back.
 Work Cited

“An analysis of income differential's by marital status.”Scielo. Online

Ben-Zeév, Aaron. “ Does cohbaitation lead to more

divorces.”Psychologytoday.com. 28 Mar. 2013.

Goldstein, R. Joshua. "The level of..” Demography. 36.3 (1999): 404-419. Springer Link.

Web. 2 Nov. 2018

Kline, G. H., Stanley, S. M., Markman, H. J., Olmos-Gallo, P. A., St. Peters, M.,

Whitton, S. W., & Prado, L. The “Cohabitation Effect.” (2004)

“Marriage vs. Cohabitation” Find Law. Online

Reeves, Richard and Krause, Eleanor. Cohabiting parents differ from married ones.

Brookings. Online