I have a lot of friends who are just cohabiting (living together as a couple without getting married) and yet, producing children. Some see this as a good option, since there can be some problems, and one or both in the couple can opt to go their own way.
To me, this is not common sense, but a way to get sex for free, no commitment or responsibilities, and to avoid having to confront the problems that a committed relationship such as marriage must face from time to time.
The study from Virginia University in the USA gives us 5 reasons why co-habiting is not good for children.
1. Children are less likely to thrive in cohabiting households,
compared to intact, married families
2. Family instability is generally bad for children
3. American family life is becoming increasingly unstable for
children. (This is true for most of Western culture)
4. The growing instability of American family life also means
that contemporary adults and children are more likely to live
in what scholars call “complex households,”. (Again, this is easily applied to other countries)
5. The nation’s retreat from marriage has hit poor and working class communities with particular force.
The last point is of great concern, since the article goes on to say that the better off and better educated you are, the most likely you will marry, while those worst off and less educated, won't.
This should sound alarms to those who are practicing cohabitation. Although some cohabitating parents do have a successful relationship, the trend is that kids being brought up in such relationships, will generally have a lesser chance at succes in life than those who are raised within a marriage.
Read the article, and be informed.
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