1. Cohabitation effect Sliding vs. deciding

2. Trends in US Relationships
Median age at first marriage: 27.1 for men, 25.3 for women
60% of Americans BELIEVE that living together before marriage is a bad idea
1/3 of children in the US are born to unmarried parents: Cohabiting couples with children: 40%
60-75% of couples live together before marriage
Bumpass & Lu, 2000; CDC, 2002, 2006; Raley & Bumpass, 2003; Stanley et al., 2004; U.S. Census, 2003

3. Important concepts
Sliding vs. deciding vs. coasting
Committment

4. SLIDING Choosing by Default “SLIDING” Not aware of other alternatives
Path of least resistance
Power of INERTIA
Societal or peer pressures
Not making choice

5. DECIDING Choosing Knowledgeably Recognizing you have options/choices
Knowing about alternatives
Paying attention to your values and feelings
Considering consequences (Pro’s and Con’s)
Re-checking

10. What is Commitment? Commitment is a DECISION
Constraint commitment
Dedication commitment
How does cohabitation influence these 2 commitments?

11. “The Cohabitation Effect”
Couples who cohabit premaritally are almost TWICE more likely to divorce!
ALSO:
Premarital cohabitation is associated with:
Lower marital satisfaction
Poorer perceived and observed communication in marriage
More marital conflict
Higher rates of domestic violence
Higher rates of infidelity
Higher rates of alcohol and drug abuse

12. Explaining the Cohabitation Effect: WHY?
1) It’s about the people who cohabit: “Self-selection effect” 2) It’s because the experience of cohabitation changes values about marriage. 3) It’s because cohabitation creates inertia that makes it harder to break up

13. Who, How, When, and Why? Who cohabits: selection How it begins:
sliding or deciding
When it begins: relative to clarity of commitment
Why people cohabit: what are their reasons

14. Who Cohabits?
Compared to daters with plans to marry, those cohabiting with plans to marry…
Are more liberal
Have less education
Are more likely to already have children
Have had more sexual partners
Are more likely to have divorced parents
Experienced more conflict in their families growing up
Have more favorable attitudes toward divorce and less favorable attitudes toward marriage
Are less religious

15. Religiousness and Cohabitation
“My religious beliefs suggest that it is wrong for people to live together without being married”:
49% of those dating agree (35% strongly)
30% of those cohabiting agree (16% strongly)

16. “Her family kicked her out.”
H o w ?
“Her family
kicked her out.”  
“It just kind of happened. Circumstances created the situation.”  

17. How does it Begin? How did you start living together?
1/3
“We didn’t think about it or plan it. We slid into it.”
“We talked about it, but then it just sort of happened.”
“We talked about it, planned it, and then made a decision together to do it.” 17

18. Inertia Theory Cohabitation may make it harder to break up.
Constraints such as sharing debt, having a lease, or making major purchases, increase in cohabitation and are associated with thinking it’s less likely the relationship will end.
Some might marry a person they would not have married if that hadn’t been cohabiting.

19. W h e n ?
“He said: To give the relationship a chance at becoming very serious. To see if we can live together.”
“She said: He was moving to my city and we already were engaged. And, it made sense financially.”

20. When does it Begin? 66% started cohabiting without plans for marriage
Among those cohabiting:
66% started cohabiting without plans for marriage
23% started cohabiting with plans, but no engagement
11% started cohabiting with an engagement
Which one is less likely to have the ‘cohabitation effect?’

21. W h y ?
“I felt it was time to take the next step in my relationship. I feel that if I love him, I need to know if living with him will change anything.”

22. Why Live Together? I wanted to spend more time with my partner 46% 44%
Men
Women
I wanted to spend more time with my partner
46%
44%
It was inconvenient to live apart
24%
22%
I wanted us to take a step up in commitment
13%
16%
We had a child to raise together 7%
I wanted to test out our relationship before marriage 9% 5%
I don't believe in the institution of marriage
0.8%
0.4%

23. Summary: Research on Cohabitation
The when, why, and how are important in understanding sliding vs. deciding (and commitment)
It’s important to understand the selection effect
Overall, cohabitation effect refers to the fact that “Living together before marriage is associated with higher risk for marital distress , divorce and other negati”