Community Chat

[Noel7]

It's not the "new way," it's been popular since the 1960s, becoming more and more common.

[Lila Belle]

Any relationship is a ****** shoot.

[Noel7]

Cohabitation has increased by nearly 900 percent over the last 50 years. More and more, couples are testing the waters before diving into marriage. Census data from 2012 shows that 7.8 million couples are living together without walking down the aisle, compared to 2.9 million in 1996. And two-thirds of couples married in 2012 shared a home together for more than two years  before they ever waltzed down an aisle.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/the-science-of-cohabitation-a-step-toward-marriage...

[proudlyfromNJ]

Hubs and I started living together in 1980. So for us it is not a new thing. No kids thank goodness. I like my indulgences and am slightly spoiled. However would do anything for the niece and nephews.

[Lila Belle]

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@Noel7 wrote:

It's not the "new way," it's been popular since the 1960s, becoming more and more common.

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@Noel7 wrote:

It's not the "new way," it's been popular since the 1960s, becoming more and more common.

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People have cohabitated for hundreds, thousands of years. It's what is called common law marriage.

[Noel7]

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@Lila Belle wrote:

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@Noel7 wrote:

It's not the "new way," it's been popular since the 1960s, becoming more and more common.

---

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@Noel7 wrote:

It's not the "new way," it's been popular since the 1960s, becoming more and more common.

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People have cohabitated for hundreds, thousands of years. It's what is called common law marriage.

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@Lila Belle

That's true. I don't know why this seems to be such a surprise to some people, and now it turns out the majority of people getting married have lived together first.

[minkbunny]

No doubt more people are living together, co-mingling their finances - buying homes, cars, etc., having children - probably 75pct of the cases we handle at work are Paternity actions not Dissolutions - same paperwork, more or less, there just wasn't a marriage involved.  And this is in a very small, very conservative area.  Wonder what the stats are for that?   It is just as messy, or moreso.

[Noel7]

To be clear, I am not advocating this for anyone.  It worked out fine for some of us and after decades we are still together.

My husband and I met in church and are still members.  Pulling the "values" card is indeed judgemental, the Bible is full of untraditional stories.

There's an old saying about the log in one's eye...

[proudlyfromNJ]

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@minkbunny wrote:

No doubt more people are living together, co-mingling their finances - buying homes, cars, etc., having children - probably 75pct of the cases we handle at work are Paternity actions not Dissolutions - same paperwork, more or less, there just wasn't a marriage involved.  And this is in a very small, very conservative area.  Wonder what the stats are for that?   It is just as messy, or moreso.

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That's exactly why we got married. (Although no kids involved) didn't want any hassles when one was sick or passes. I also live in a conservative area.

[Lila Belle]

@ Noel7 I remember a class in anthropology about how couples lived together for years in our US territories just waiting for a travelling preacher to marry them.