What is cohabitation, who is most likely to cohabit, and why is it hard to find the exact number of people who are cohabiting in the United States? Where do cohabitation rates in the United States rank among developed countries? According to a study referenced in your text, what were the two rationales people gave for cohabitating?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Correct answers will vary but should include a definition of cohabitation as an arrangement in which a couple shares a home and bed without being legally married. Rates are up today compared to the past, but the United States ranks in the middle of developed countries, with only about 5.5 percent of households reporting as cohabiting; however, it is hard to measure since statistics rely on self-report and are not a legal arrangement. So there are no formal legal records that can validate the number. There is also a gray area of how much coresidence constitutes cohabitation. Those more likely to cohabit are more educated and white, although in the past it was more common for people who were working class and less educated and more common among black women than white women. Rationales include that it was simply easier to spend time with one's partner this way. Second, it was cost saving to cohabit and share household expenses instead of maintaining separate households. Third, it was a way to "test drive" a relationship prior to marriage to make sure it would work.