Cohabitation has Big Downside, Study Finds

By Karen S. Peterson USA Today (February 1, 1999)

 
Couples who live together before marriage are about 48 percent more likely to divorce than those who don't, says the author of a new review of research on cohabitation. The study finds that living together increases risks of domestic violence.

Despite what some couples may think, the overwhelming implication is that "living together is not a good way to prepare for marriage or to avoid divorce," says study co-author David Popenoe, a Rutgers University sociologist.

The report comes as the trend of living together soars. By 1998, the number of unmarried U.S. couples topped 4,236,000 up from 439,000 in 1960, according to the Census Bureau. More than half of first marriages are now preceded by cohabitation, Popenoe says.

His project finds: Living together increases the risk of domestic violence for women and the risk of physical and sexual abuse for kids. University of Chicago sociologist Linda Waite says the violence rate for live-ins is almost double that of marrieds.Unmarried couples have lower levels of happiness. An important exception: Couples who move in together with both partners fully intending to marry seem to do relatively well.

Sociologist Alan Booth of Pennsylvania State University has researched cohabitation for two decades. "Committed cohabitors" are different from "permanent cohabitors"

who live together long-term, he says. The latter "show a lot of symptoms of depression. Their relationships are not stable, especially if there are children."

In 1997, 36 percent of all unmarried-couple households included a child under 18, up from 21 percent in 1987, Popenoe says. Most uncommitted live-in relationships are unstable by definition, experts say. Research shows that "cohabitants tend not to be as committed as married couples ... to the continuation of the relationship" and are more oriented toward autonomy, Popenoe says.

Of particular concern are those who live together in relationship after relationship. Popenoe speculates that "the experience of dissolving one cohabiting relationship generates a greater willingness to dissolve later relationships."

Popenoe says "clearly mature people are able to cohabit and go on to strong marriages; this is not something written in stone." He also says his review of existing research shows that in more recent studies the association between cohabitation and divorce may be diminishing somewhat: Fresh studies are needed.

But he finds overall that living together is not "marriage- friendly." "Around the Coalition" shares a wide range of information on marriage, divorce, and educational approaches. Opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by members of the Coalition.