Cohabitation

Does pre matrimonial cohabitation affect the chances of marriage lasting?

David de Vaus, Lixia Qu and Ruth Weston Australian Institute of Family Studies

Summary Paper

Paper presented at the Eighth Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference, Steps forward for families: Research, practice and policy, Melbourne, 1214 February 2003.

Cohabitation and Marital Stability: Summary of results
David de Vaus, Lixia Qu and Ruth Weston While it whitethorn seem that couples who live together before deciding whether or not to marry (here called cohabitation) would be in an excellent coiffe to assess their suitability to marry, most previous research in Australia and other western countries suggests that those who cohabit before marriage fuck off an elevated risk of divorce (for reviews, see Australia, Parliament 1998; Lillard, Brien & Waite 1995; dust storm 2000). This paradox has sparked a great deal of research and intelligence in the literature. The issue is important, given the dramatic increase in the proportions of marriages that are preceded by cohabitation (from 16% in 1965 to 72% in 2001)(ABS 1995, 2002).



Three key explanations, which are not mutually exclusive, beget been suggested (see Brown & Booth 1996; Brüderl, Diekmann & Engelhardt 1999; DeMaris & Rao 1992; Glezer, Edgar & Prolisko 1992; Lillard, et al. 1995): (a) the experience of cohabitation affects attitudes in slipway that are detrimental to marital stability (social causing hypothesis); (b) personal characteristics that influence pathways to marriage also influence risks of marital separation, with those who cohabit before marriage having more unconventional backgrounds, attitudes and set than those who marry directly characteristics that lead the former group to be more divorce-prone (self-selection hypothesis); and (c) the way in which stability is typically measured from the start of the marriage rather than the start of the living-together union exaggerates some(prenominal) real difference in the...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay



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