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Cohabitation

An Alternative to Marriage or Just a Lifestyle
"Living before marriage is a great idea—I can save up for the real wedding!" "I don't need a marriage license to prove I love my girlfriend." "Living together before marriage is a good way to test ourselves before tying the knot." These are only few of the responses that people have given for agreeing on the idea that living together before marriage is acceptable, and unfortunately most of the responses came from teenagers and young adults. In the world today, many young adults are thinking about living together before actually going down the aisle. The technical term for this kind of relationship or lifestyle is called cohabitation. Cohabitation can be simply defined as "two unmarried people of the opposite-sex living together" (Colson). If people are thinking that cohabitation is the answer to preparing themselves for marriage, then they are in for a shock. Chuck Colson's online article Cohabitation- It's Training for Divorce shows that half of cohabiting relationships end within one year due to the couple either becoming married or separating. Couples who feel that cohabitation is the answer should think twice before participating in this type of relationship because it can lead to many legal, physical, and sociological problems. Statistics also shows that "couples who are less educated, have a low religious orientation and less economic resources are more likely to cohabit" (Colson). In order to prevent teens and young adults from going down the path of cohabitation, influential individual(s) such as parents, schools [teachers and counselors], religion [priests and pastors], and government should put an effort to educate teenagers and young adults about the repercussions of living a life with their partners before marriage.
Parents are considered to be the most influential people in their children's eyes. They are role models that can shape the decision-making and lives of their children. In order to prevent...