Cohabitation Divorce Statistics

Divorce Papers > Divorce Statistics > Cohabitation Divorce Statistics

When two individuals, generally a man and a woman, live together in the same house under the same roof, without being bound in the institution of marriage, it is referred to as cohabitation. This relationship between the persons is generally of an intimate kind, wherein they live together for quite a long duration of time. According to a reliable data found through surveys, it has been revealed that as much as two thirds of the married population in the United States of America says that they have tried this process before sealing their relationship in the form of a marriage. Before 1970, cohabitation was considered as illegal in the United States of America. But by the end of 1990s the percentage of individuals trying out this process increased by as much as tenfold. In fact the modern norm of the times is that the cohabitation divorce statistics has increased to an extent that this is considered as the first step among young adults before stepping into a marriage. Modern day has around sixty percent of the marriages being preceded by the process of cohabitation.

Comparison of Cohabitation Divorce Statistics with Marriage Divorce Statistics

• 1.2 million individuals in the United States cohabit with the same sex partner and 9.7 million cohabit with a different sex partner.
• From 1960 to 2000, the number of unmarried couples cohabiting has been increased by as much as 10 times.
• From 1990 to 2000, the number of unmarried couples cohabiting shot up by 72 percent.
• In the age group 20 to 29, 43 percent are of the opinion that couples who cohabitants should be given benefits identical to married couples.
• Out of the total different sex cohabitors,
  • 55 percent marry each other within 5 years of beginning the cohabitation
  • 40 percent break up within 5 years of starting the cohabitation
  • 10 percent opt for an unmarried relationship lasting 5 years or more
• Out of the total first marriages of women, 53 percent are after cohabitation.
• There is a possibility of around 20 percent of the first marriage ending up in a break up, a break up in five years of time after the marriage has taken place. There is a chance of as much as forty none that a process of cohabitation will end up in a span of five years.
• At the end of ten years, chances are of as much as 33 percent of the first marriage ending in a divorce, and chances are of as high as sixty two percent that a cohabitation will end.
• As high as a number of 11 comprise people of the same gender in cohabiting with each other.

The rate of divorce in cohabitation in the United States of America

In the earlier times, most of the people in America were against the process of cohabitation. But with time, more and more people have accepted cohabitation.

Let us take an example – To stay together for the couple is good prior to the marriage to know if there is a chemistry between them or not.. More and more high school senior boys and high school senior girls have come to accept this fact, with the figures rising from forty five percent to sixty four percent and thirty two to fifty seven percent respectively.

Let us take a different example – You might agree to get married to someone, provided the person agreed to live with you together first, so that you could know , if he or she shares a good rapport with you or not. As per the survey conducted by the National Marriage Project in the year 2001, which included young people in the age group of twenty to twenty nine years, it was revealed that as much as forty three percent of them agreed to this statement.

It was found by another survey of the women in the age group of nineteen to forty four that way back in the year 1902, no one had cohabited, while in the year 1987, as much as thirty three of the women had been into this process and further, in the year 2002, almost more than half of the population had been into this process. Hence, it comes as no shock to know that the figures of marriage have declined while that of cohabitation have climbed up.

Effect of cohabitation on children

The act of cohabitation affects children in a harmful manner . Another survey, as part of the cohabitation divorce statistics makes us aware of the fact that as much as forty percent of the couples who cohabit, have children.. As the dissolution rates are higher in the case of couples who cohabit, their children have to go through more pain. when a break up, or a divorce or a separation takes place between the couple or the parents. Besides, it has also been seen that the percentage of child abuse and family violence is higher in the case of couples who cohabit.

It ultimately all boils down to how every circumstance or event of life is seen and utilized, that is to say, whether it is used for the good or bad of the ones involved, especially the children, who are the innocent victims of any divorce or separation.

Divorce Papers