Study: Cohabitation Becoming Mainstream

USA Today says cohabitation in the U.S. and in 13 other countries around the world has become accepted as commonplace.

The article does point out some significant differences between the U.S. and other countries.

The National Marriage Project study of a sampling of Western European and Scandinavian nations, Australia, Canada and New Zealand found that cohabitation elsewhere is far more common and indeed viewed as an option to matrimony. The study found that anywhere from 15% to 30% of all couples identified themselves as living together, compared with about 10% right now in the USA.

In America it's gone from about 500,000 cohabitating couples in 1970 to about 5 million now.

In a culture where families and children are already struggling with academic achievement, drug abuse and crime, this is not good news.

Focus on the Family's CitizenLink data shows what many other studies have shown: cohabitation leads to instability in the home, which leads to a host of other problems:

- After five to seven years, 39% of all cohabiting couples have broken up

- Cohabitating couples are three times as likely to experience depression

- Women in cohabitative relationships are two to five times more likely to experience domestic violence

- Children are at greater risk of physical and sexual abuse.

Isn't it important for us not to undermine marriage with politically correct social experiments, TV shows that mock marriage, and a cavalier attitude about sex?

Do we want healthy families and a healthy society? Or would we rather have more hurting families, more hurting children, more crime and more chaos?

HT to CitizenLink.