According to a report by the National Center for Health Statistics, single couples who live together remain together for longer and have more babies than to any other time in the past. (Cue Panique moral on: gays; the rise of feminism; the "wussification" American men; Other conservative garbage and this ad nauseam.)
As USA Today reported, for almost half of nearly 13,000 women researchers questioned, their "first union" lived with a single partner – not marriage. The investigation also revealed that marriage was the "first union" For less than 25% of women, compared to 39% in 1995.
Other results include:
– As the first union, 48% of women coexisted with their male partner, compared to 43% in 2002 and 34% in 1995.
– 23% of the first unions were marriages, compared to 30% in 2002 and 39% in 1995. The percentage of women who coexistered as the first union increased for all breeds and ethnic groups, with the exception of Asian women. Among the Hispanics, the percentage increased by 57%; For whites, 43%; For blacks, 39%.
– 22 months is the median duration of the first cohabitation, against 20 months in 2002 and 13 months in 1995.
– 19% of women fell pregnant and gave birth in the first year of first cohabitation before marriage.
– within three years of cohabitation, 40% of women had gone to marriage; 32% remained living together; 27% had broken.
Researchers attribute the passage, among other factors, class, education and an evolving vision of marriage:
The new data show that 70% of women without cohabited secondary school diploma as the first union, compared to 47% of those holding a baccalaureate or more. Among women aged 22 to 44 with higher education, their cohabitations were more likely to move to marriage in a few years (53%), against 30% for those who have not obtained their secondary school diploma.
"What we see here is the emergence of children in cohabitant unions among the working class and the poor," [sociologist Andrew Cherlin of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore] said. "They have high standards for marriage and they do not think they can meet them for the moment, but more and more, that does not prevent them from having a child. Having children in cohabiting unions is much more common in everyone except college educated."
The study also revealed that cohabitation is often a first step towards marriage for many couples, so do not publish your article of reflection on the "death" of the institution again. (But the report also noted that an increasing number of adults enter the long-term cohabitation relationships as an alternative to marriage, so perhaps to record a copy on your external hard drive.)
The sociologist of the Arizona State University, Sarah Hayford, sums up the results of the federal study well: they are complicated.
"It seems that cohabiting unions are playing different roles for different people," she said.
The message that does not go is the new wedding appears first on Salon.com.
