The Trend Towards Cohabitation and Unmarried Pregnancies

A century ago, the word cohabitation wouldn't even have existed yet, and the concept behind it would have been totally rejected by a much stricter code of living. An unmarried pregnancy, even without cohabitation, would have brought immense shame on the girl and her family. However, times have changed, and even just the past decade has shown a dramatic rise in both cohabitation and cohabitation births. Although older generations still frown on the practice, many young people and celebrities still find it to be a practical lifestyle. Moral values have shifted in our country for a large percent of the population. Maybe it's time we all tried to understand what we can't change.

If you like, you can start by blaming the times we live in for the huge jump in the number of unmarried couples who are living together. We've been in a recession for a number of years now, and the cost of living just keeps going up. Financially, it makes sense for couples to live in one domicile rather than trying to pay for two. In addition, with widespread unemployment, a way unemployed or underemployed people cope is by sharing their expenses with another person. So why shouldn't that person be their lover rather than just a friend? To many this seems to be the only logical choice.

There is no longer great social stigma placed on couples living together and having children out of wedlock, and the trend is growing. Whereas it used to be that most couples who lived together had little education, now more couples with high school, and even college, diplomas are choosing a life together without benefit of nuptials. The statistics do vary by race, however. With only 18% cohabitation, African American women are less likely to cohabit, but the first child birth rate among unmarried women stands at 80%. Hispanics are next with only 30% of them living together and a birth rate of 53%. With whites, 20% cohabit with a birth rate of 34%. Asians rank last with only 7% cohabiting and a birth rate of 13%. Obviously culture plays a major part in the thinking.

With the percentage of first births to cohabiting women increasing from 9% in 1985 to 27% by 2010, this looks like a trend that will continue to rise. Although most of the couples involved say they would prefer to have been married prior to producing their first child, the new trends appear to be a sign of the times that is going to continue. Although it may seem like these couples are showing a lack of commitment to each other and to their children, many of them actually stay together longer than their counterparts who did get married.

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