Why do people cohabit?
Smoking cigarettes is very bad for your health, but people still do it. The same is true for cohabitation. In a report on cohabitation research, Dr. David Olson and Amy Olson-Sigg list a number of reported reasons that couples cohabit 1. • Economic advantages: “We can save money by sharing living expenses.” • Increase intimacy: “We have more opportunities to share sexual and emotional intimacy without getting married.” • “Testing” compatibility: “Living together enables us to better learn about each other’s habits an character and see how we operate together day-to-day.” • Trial marriage: “We are planning to marry soon.” • Less complicated dissolution: “If the relationship doesn’t work out, there is no messy divorce.” It is this fear of divorce (for remarried’s it is the fear of divorcing again) that is profoundly driving couples to a “half-way house” approach. Conceivably, cohabitation allows couples to protect themselves from emotional pain while obtaining the economic and sexual ben
