Co-habitation
Cohabitation is when two people who are romantically involved choose to live together without making the commitment of marriage. Cohabiting couples are typically emotionally and sexually intimate. Cohabitation can refer to either heterosexual or same sex couples. The number of couples cohabiting is increasing and is the fastest growing family type in in the UK. There are over 2 million cohabiting couples in Britain. About a quarter of all unmarried adults under 60 are now cohabiting which is double the number in 1986. The number of cohabiting couples is expected to double again by 2021.

Why is cohabitation increasing? Many people want to live in a companionship without marriage. Half of all marriages end in divorce which scares many people out of getting married. By cohabiting it feels like marriage, without the risks. Increased cohabitation rates reflect the decline in stigma attached to sex outside of marriage. 1989 only 44% of people agreed that premarital sex is not wrong at all but by 2000 62% took this view.
Many couples state the primary reason for living together is to find out if they are compatible. Some view living together as a way to determine whether they can agree to a longer term marital commitment. Cohabitation gives the couple an opportunity to see how they would adjust to each other’s habits and living pattern on a more intensive basis. Another reason