Unions Social change and intimate unions Prior to 1960 o Marriage was the only acceptable way to have intimate partners and raise children o Marriage was viewed as the start of young adulthood now its viewed as the end during the 1950s marriage o many young men and women did not have sex until o married younger o cohabitation unacceptable o childbirth outside marriage highly stigmatized pregnancy forced marriage shotgun marriage changes in union formation today none of the conditions of the 1950s remain marriage rate older more time spent searching for mate cohabitation acceptable o more than 50 do decreased stigma of non marital childbirth both men and women are required to be good earners o men should take more responsibility gay and lesbian couples live openly o ties not supported by law or custom o kinships must be created and maintained role of marriage weakened in personal life o people still marry though types of non marital unions living apart together LAT o definition couples who carry on cohabitation on marriage like relationships but live in separate households cohabitation the sharing of a household by unmarried persons who have a sexual relationship o key features and trends more common among less affluent and less well educated o 4 9 million unmarried partner households 600 000 same sex households o since 1970s cohabitation has increased for all classes o major contributing factor to the delay in marriage o about 40 of birth to single women are birth to o about 40 of all cohabiters have children from previous relationships in the home o more common before remarriage than before first and ages cohabiters marriage why engage in heterosexual cohabitation alternative type of being singlehood o its convenient o appeal of no legal obligation o pure relationship intimate relationship for its own sake that lasts only as long as both partners are satisfied testing ground for marriage o when some couples discuss their long term options they transform the relationship into a testing ground for marriage alternative to marriage o a way of living similar to marriage but does not involve a legal commitment o this type is nearly indistinguishable from legal marriage has features of a marriage without legal trends cohabitation with children commitment o a number of cohabitating couples have children o in 2003 2 out of 5 opposite sexy partners had children from one or both partners reasons for cohabitation o the role of the wedding it is a status symbol weddings are symbolic weddings are followed by exotic honeymoons causes for increase in heterosexual cohabitation o increased economic independence of women o increased social acceptance of sex childbirth before marriage o increased availability and options for birth control o increased emphasis on self fulfillment more predictors of decision to cohabit o more traditionally religious persons less likely to cohabit prior to marriage o children of divorce are more likely to cohabit o blacks whites and latinos are equally likely to enter cohabitation but blacks are far less likely to eventually marry when cohabitors part ways o some argued that cohabitation increases the likelihood of divorce o empirical evidence cohabitation is positively correlated with higher rate of divorce and weaker belief in the permanence of marriage sliding versus deciding o why do people decide to get married after cohabitation o Sliding into marriage inertia of cohabitation even when partner is not the right fit