benefit of men, women, and their children, marriage is superior
to cohabitation. Cohabitation cannot provide or compete with
the rewards and benefits of a strong, committed marriage.
Cohabitation is not an effective "trial marriage," if such a thing
exists. It does not provide divorce insurance. Couples will be
better off on life's measures of success and happiness (e.g.,
emotional health, physical health, and personal wealth) if they
are married rather than living together. Cohabitation has more
costs than rewards but, unfortunately, continues to be popular,
especially among young adults, even though cohabitors fail to
receive the benefits or avoid the risks they think they will.
People need to know that cohabitation fails to bring couples the
happiness and stability they desire in a close personal
relationship.
The current generation of young adults longs for satisfying and
stable marriages, but is increasingly anxious about their ability
to achieve them. Their fears will be calmed through better
premarriage education and counseling. They will not be helped
by alternatives to marriage that, although they appear reasonable
and attractive, will not fulfill their promise and fail when
compared to marriage. Marriage educators, university
professors, public school teachers, premarriage counselors, the
clergy, the media, and parents can provide this important
information to our youth and begin to reinstate the institution of
marriage as fundamental to personal and family success.
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