A Study Of American Cohabitation From Social-Cultural Perspective

Cohabitation has increased dramatically over a relatively short period of time, raising concerns about the effects of this new family form on the institutions of marriage and the family in the United States. Cohabitation researchers have posed three possibilities of viewing this type of union, all of which can affect the interpretation of the changes in marriage.One point of view is that cohabitation is the last and temporary phase before marriage. The second view is that cohabitation is an alternative to being single. Thirdly, cohabitation can be seen as an alternative of marriage. Because cohabitation is similar to traditional marriage on the surface, most people agree with the third view.This paper will discuss the third view of American cohabitation from two levels. One is its popularity and the other one is its substitutability.The author agrees with its popularity and presents the historical development of American cohabitation which is divided into beginning stage and highly developing stage. The thesis also explores the causes of American cohabitation from macro and micro-level perspectives. The conclusion is drawn that it is American individualism (micro-level) and economic-social changes (macro-level) that make Americans accept cohabitation. Thus, American cohabitation becomes popular.However, the author disagrees with cohabitational substitutability. It means that cohabitation cannot take the place of marriage to be family unit in the whole society. This paper focuses on five family elements to make the comparison between cohabitation and marriage. As a result, cohabitation has a lot of disadvantages. It has negative effects on family, children, society and cohabiters themselves.Government and social scientists are expected to guide the people to have the clear understanding of cohabitation.