Editing Cohabitation (section)

==Contemporary objections to cohabitation==

Contemporary objections to cohabiting couples include religious opposition to non-marital unions, social pressure for couples to get married, and potential effects of cohabitation on a child's development.

The rise in the number of cohabiting couples and children born out of wedlock in the Western world has made cohabitation a strong focus of sociological research.<ref name="germanypmc"/> The rise in cohabiting couples in the United States, from around 450,000 in 1960 to 7.5&nbsp;million in 2011<ref>{{cite news|last=Jay|first=M |title=The Downside of Cohabitation Before Marriage |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/opinion/sunday|access-date=22 April 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=15 April 2012}}</ref> has been accompanied by US research performed on child development within cohabiting households.<ref name="Dunifon">{{cite journal|last1=Dunifon|first1=R |last2=Kowaleski-Jones|first2=L|title=Who's in the house? race differences in cohabitation, single-parenthood, and child development|journal=Child Development|year=2002 |volume=73|issue=4|url=http://ebscohost.com|access-date=22 April 2012|doi=10.1111/1467-8624.00470|pmid=12146746 |pages=1249–1264}}</ref> Opponents of cohabitation say non-marital parenting is an unsuitable environment for a child's development. One study from 2002 correlated lower numeracy skills and higher delinquency to children of cohabiting couples;<ref name="Dunifon" /> however, recent studies that control for factors including poverty, the educational level of parents and violence in the home show children of cohabiting couples are developmentally similar to peers of comparable married couples.<ref>{{cite news |last=Coontz|first=S.|title=Cohabitation Doesn't Cause Bad Parenting|newspaper=The New York Times|date=30 August 2011 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/opinion|access-date=22 April 2012}}</ref>

===Effect on children===

In 2001, researchers compared teenage children in the United States living in a cohabiting household (a single mother and her boyfriend who was not related to the teenager) against peers in single-parent households. The results showed white and Hispanic teenagers had lower performance in school, greater risk of suspension or expulsion than peers from single-parent households, and the same rate of behavioral and emotional problems.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nelson |first=Sandi |author2=Rebecca L. Clark |author3=Gregory Acs |title=Beyond the Two-Parent Family: How Teenagers Fare in Cohabitating Couple and Blended Families |journal=Urban Institute |date=May 2001 |series=New Federalism: National Survey of America's Families |issue=B-31 |url=http://www.urban.org/publications/310339.html |access-date=20 April 2012 |archive-date=16 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716000838/http://www.urban.org/publications/310339.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

A study on the 1995 and 2002 National Survey of Family Growth found increases in both the prevalence and duration of unmarried cohabitation.<ref name="pmid19119426">{{cite journal |last=Kennedy |first=Sheela |author2=Larry Bumpass |title=Cohabitation and children's living arrangements: New estimates from the United States |journal=Demographic Research |date=19 September 2008 |volume=19 |issue=47 |pages=1663–1692 |doi=10.4054/DemRes.2008.19.47 |pmc=2612998 |pmid=19119426}}</ref> The study found that 40% of children in the United States would live in a cohabiting household by age 12, and children born to single mothers were more likely than those born to married mothers to live in a cohabiting household. The percentage of women ages 19–44 who had ever cohabited increased from 45% in 1995 to 54% in 2002.<ref name="pmid19119426" />

In 2002, 63% of women who graduate from high school were found to spend some time cohabiting, compared to only 45% of women with a four-year college degree.<ref name="pmid19119426" /> Cohabiting couples who have children often get married. One study found that children born of parents who cohabit are 90% more likely to end up living in households with married parents than children born to single mothers. 67% of unmarried Hispanic mothers are expected to marry, while 40% of African American mothers are expected to marry.<ref name="pmid19119426" />

===Religious views===
{{main|Fornication}}
{{See also|Marriage#Marriage and religion|Extramarital sex#Religions}}

Studies have found that religious affiliation correlates with cohabitation and marriage entry.<ref name="peer2011">{{cite journal |vauthors=Manning WD, Cohen JA, [[Pamela Smock|Smock PJ]] |title=The Role of Romantic Partners, Family and Peer Networks in Dating Couples' Views about Cohabitation |journal=J Adolesc Res |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=115–149 |date=January 2011 |pmid=23087542 |pmc=3476461 |doi=10.1177/0743558410376833}}</ref> People frequently cite religious reasons for their opposition to cohabitation. The Roman Catholic Church and nearly all mainstream Protestant denominations around the world oppose cohabitation and consider it to be the sin of [[fornication]].<ref name=Halstead>{{cite journal |last=Halstead |first=J |title=Muslims and Sex Education |journal=Journal of Moral Education |year=1997 |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=317–331 |doi=10.1080/0305724970260306}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |work=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops |title=Marriage Preparation and Cohabitating Couples |url=http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/marriage/marriage-preparation/cohabiting.cfm |year=1999 |publisher=United States Catholic Conference Inc. |access-date=22 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713192304/http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/marriage/marriage-preparation/cohabiting.cfm|archive-date=13 July 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Prager">{{cite web |last=Prager|first=D|title=Judaism's sexual revolution: Why Judaism (and then Christianity) rejected homosexuality |website=Orthodoxy Today |url=http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles2/PragerHomosexuality.php|access-date=22 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127051825/http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles2/PragerHomosexuality.php |archive-date=27 January 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, others, such as the [[Church of England]] "welcome cohabiting couples in the Church and encourage them to regard cohabitation as a prelude to [[Christian marriage]]."<ref name="Taylor">{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Ina |title=Religion and Life with Christianity |year=2005 |publisher=[[Heinemann (publisher)|Heinemann]] |isbn=9780435302283 |page=45}}</ref>

Religion can also lead to societal pressures against cohabitation especially within highly religious communities.<ref name=jstor-2781460>{{cite journal |vauthors=Thorton A, Axinn W |title=Reciprocal effects of religiosity, cohabitation, and marriage |journal=American Journal of Sociology |date=November 1992 |volume=98 |issue=3 |pages=628–651 |jstor=2781460 |doi=10.1086/230051 |s2cid=143924400}}</ref> Some couples may refrain from cohabitation because one or both partners fear disappointing or alienating conservative family members.<ref name="peer2011"/> Young adults who grew up in families that oppose cohabitation have lower rates than their peers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Newman |first=B. |title=Development Through Life: A Psychosocial Approach |year=2011 |publisher=Wadsworth |isbn=978-1-111-34466-5}}</ref>

The increase in cohabitation in the United States and other developed nations has been linked to the [[secularization]] of those countries.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Impicciatore R, Billari FC |title=Secularization, Union Formation Practices, and Marital Stability: Evidence from Italy |journal=Eur J Popul |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=119–138 |date=May 2012 |pmid=22707812 |pmc=3371187 |doi=10.1007/s10680-012-9255-4}}</ref> Researchers have noted that changes in the religious demographics of a society have accompanied the rise in cohabitation.<ref name=jstor-2781460/>

Non-marital and same-sex relationships are forbidden by the Islamic law of [[Zina]],<ref name=Halstead/> and cohabitation is against the law in many Muslim majority countries including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan,<ref>{{cite web |title=New Sorrow for Afghanistan: AIDS Joins List |url=http://www.aidsportal.org/news_details.aspx?ID=4236 |website=AIDSPortal |archive-date=26 October 2008 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20081026065259/http://www.aidsportal.org/news_details.aspx?ID=4236 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="travel.state.gov">{{cite web |title=Iran |website=Travel.state.gov |url=https://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1142.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801084310/http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1142.html}}</ref> Iran,<ref name="travel.state.gov"/> Kuwait,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/2f5665ae20b956cb8025675a0033cafb?Opendocument |title=Summary record of the 488th meeting: Kuwait. 04/14/1999. CRC/C/SR.488. (Summary Record) |work=Convention on the Rights of the Child |place=Palais des Nations, Geneva |date=28 September 1998 |publisher=United Nations |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604182449/http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/2f5665ae20b956cb8025675a0033cafb?Opendocument |archive-date=2011-06-04}}</ref> Maldives,<ref>{{cite web |title=Culture of Maldives |website=Everyculture.com |url=http://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/Maldives.html}}</ref> Morocco,<ref>{{cite news|last=Fakim |first=Nora |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19049000 |title=Morocco: Should pre-marital sex be legal? |website=BBC News |date=9 August 2012}}</ref> Oman,<ref>{{cite web |title=Legislation of Interpol member states on sexual offences against children – Oman |publisher=Interpol |url=http://www.interpol.com/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/csaOman.pdf |archive-date=16 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616214243/http://www.interpol.com/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/csaOman.pdf |access-date=22 July 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Mauritania,<ref>{{cite web |title=Mauritania |date=8 April 2011 |work=2010 Human Rights Report |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/af/154358.htm |via=State.gov}}</ref> United Arab Emirates,<ref>{{cite web |author=Dubai FAQs |url=http://www.dubaifaqs.com/education-dubai.php |title=Education in Dubai |website=Dubaifaqs.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mate.ae/flat-and-room-sharing-guide-dubai-uae |title=Dubai Room Sharing Guide |website=mate.ae |access-date=2018-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328043507/https://www.mate.ae/flat-and-room-sharing-guide-dubai-uae |archive-date=28 March 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Judd |first1=Terri |last2=Sajn |first2=Nikolina |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/briton-faces-jail-for-sex-on-dubai-beach-863918.html |title=Briton faces jail for sex on Dubai beach |work=The Independent |date=10 July 2008}}</ref> Sudan,<ref>{{cite news |title=Sudan must rewrite rape laws to protect victims |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2007/06/28/idUSL28849488._CH_.2400 |work=Reuters |date=28 June 2007 |access-date=30 June 2017 |archive-date=15 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615115805/http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/06/28/idUSL28849488._CH_.2400 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and Yemen.<ref>{{cite web |author=Amal Basha |author2=Rana Ghanem |author3=Nabil Abdulhafid |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/47387b712f.html/ |via=Refworld |title=Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa – Yemen |publisher=Freedom House}}</ref>