July 30, 2008

The U.S. Census Bureau has just reported that cohabitation among heterosexual couples has hit record numbers as living together -- as opposed to getting married -- becomes more and more mainstream.

USA Today provides extensive reporting on this issue, along with analysis that seems to celebrate this development.

In one article, "Census Reports More Unmarried Couples Living Together," the paper provides a summary of the findings. As the paper reports:

That's up from 2006, when the Census bureau reported 5 million unmarried, opposite-sex households. But that figure was based on a question that some respondents might have found unclear.

The important shift is not found between 2006 and 2007, but between 1977 and 2007. Just thirty years ago cohabitation was rare and marriage was the norm for heterosexual couples. All that has seemingly changed.

Nevertheless, the other side of the story was downplayed. If cohabitating couples make up "almost 10%" of heterosexual couples, then marriage is still very much the norm. In fact, the American numbers on marriage are much different than those found in many European nations, where the percentages of unmarried couples living together is much higher. The resilience of marriage is a big part of this story, but that fact doesn't provide much headline fodder.

The paper also suggested that the true figures concerning cohabitation are obscured by the fact that many couples who are currently married had previously cohabitated. One researcher cited by the paper suggested that the American pattern of cohabitation is more of a life stage than a permanent lifestyle.

Sociologist Linda Waite of the University of Chicago "says living together in the USA isn't very stable or long-term, compared to some Scandinavian countries where it's more likely to be a long-term committed relationship." She said that in America cohabitation is "part of the life course." As she explained: "It's something people do that leads to somewhere," she says. "If it doesn't lead to marriage, it leads to splitsville."

USA Today also provided an analysis article, "Living Together No Longer 'Playing House.'" In this article, Sharon Jayson argues that cohabitation has been falsely blamed for later marital problems and breakups. As she introduced her article:

While researchers say the overall divorce rate is higher among those who lived together before marriage, now they don't blame cohabitating.