“Cohabitation is certainly a moral issue, but seeing it as a sociological and psychological issue as well reveals that cohabiting relationships tend —with all other things being equal —to be shorter-lived and more volatile than marriages because cohabitation is an ambiguous relationship,” Glenn Stanton, director of family formation studies at Focus on the Family, said.
“The man typically sees the relationship less seriously and more temporary than the woman and each partner’s parents and extended family are not sure what the nature of the relationship is,” Stanton added.
“Would a father-in-law be as likely to get his daughter’s live-in boyfriend a job down at the factory or provide the money for their first home as he would his daughter’s husband, his son-in-law? Of course not and this demonstrates one way how cohabiting relationships are practically very different.”