Recently, more and more young couples are living together and not getting married and the reason being seen as is the economic downturn. Further, this number is rising faster here in Minnesota, but why?
New U.S. Census estimates show the number of unmarried couples living together has spiked nationally during the recent recession and rose even faster in Minnesota. Demographers believe the increase is couples delaying marriage because of the cost, avoiding marriage altogether or moving in without a long-term plan because of short term financial pressures. While cohabitation has increased over the last 30 years, the recent uptick has surprised most experts. The Current Population Survey showed an increase nationally from 6.7 million unmarried couples living together in 2009 to 7.5 million couples in 2010. That's a huge jump!
The reason for this increase is unclear. Joblessness might be one of the reasons why couples say 'ok, do we really need two addresses?' It was determined that couples who recently moved in together were less likely to have jobs than couples who lived together more than a year. Beyond economics, a major reason for more cohabitation is couples who have children, but don't get married. Many couples today just see moving in together as a natural extension of dating. First, you have a toothbrush, and then maybe some clothes, and then eventually it doesn't make sense to pay rent on two apartments.
It's unclear why cohabitation is rising faster in Minnesota. The state has more married couples living together fewer divorces and separations, and fewer multiple-generation households. Who knows, this could create a new social norm in which unmarried couples also want to live together if it hasn't already.
The negative stigma surrounding unmarried couples living together has lessened in the last three decades, but hasn't disappeared. The old "living in sin" idea has changed since the time when landlords would deny apartments to unmarried couples, but instead today some couples find it a challenge to find a church to perform their wedding ceremony unless they first get legally married or agree to move apart. It is common for most unmarried couples living together to split up or get married within two years. It's been concluded that only 14 percent of couples are unmarried live together after five years.
Really, there are pros and cons to living together before marriage, the debate is still on. Time will only tell if this pattern becomes the norm and if it improves the stats of divorce. It's an interesting situation. Why do you think this is happening and what do you think the future will be for unmarried couples who have decided to try living together?
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