Compare and contrast dating cohabitation and premarital cohabitation.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. Cohabitation is an arrangement in which two unrelated and unmarried people live together and are in a sexual relationship. Some people drift gradually into dating cohabitation, a living arrangement in which a couple that spends a great deal of time together decides to move in together. Dating cohabitation is essentially an alternative to singlehood because the decision may be based on a combination of reasons (e.g., convenience, finances, companionship, and sexual accessibility), but there is no long-term commitment. In this type of cohabitation, and especially among young adults, there is considerable serial cohabitation, living with different sexual partners over time. Even if there is an unplanned pregnancy, the man, especially, may decide to move on to another cohabiting arrangement. In premarital cohabitation, a couple lives together before getting married. They may or may not be engaged but plan to marry. Such "almost-married" cohabitation may be especially attractive to partners who wonder if they can deal successfully with problems that arise from differences in personalities, interests, finances, ethnicity, religion, or other issues. Both types of cohabitation have benefits, including economic advantages, and costs, including poorer quality of relationship than married people.