Cohabitation Research Article Summary

“Cohabitation, nonmarital childbearing, and the marriage process,” is an article testing whether cohabitation has a greater effect on nonmarital fertility and possibly more of a likelihood of marriage. The author pays attention to the difference between intended and unintended fertility for a better understanding of the acceptability of cohabitation for the purpose of childbearing. She believes that the results show cohabitations place in the family system, and that cohabitation might be a step in the direction of marriage for some people, but an end in itself for others (Musick). The research question for this article is whether cohabitors have a higher probability of marrying than their single friends because of due to the fact that they are more likely to plan births because they see cohabitation as acceptable for childbearing (Musick).
Musick uses a modeling approach that looks at the characteristics of women that are common to nonmarital fertility. Using information from women on how they felt when they were pregnant …show more content…
I would like to know exactly what characteristics of cohabitation is most appealing to young adults and also what are most appealing to the elderly that cohabitate also. Another question that ran through my mind while looking at this article was, what is the percentage of couples that cohabitate don’t plan on childbearing before marriage, and what means of contraception do they use to prevent unwanted pregnancies, and also what percentage of couples that cohabitate do plan on childbearing before marriage. How many couples do actually use cohabitation as a step toward marriage and how many use it as an end in itself. If a couple that is cohabitating decides to break up and they have a car payment together or bank account together who takes on what responsibilities? How are things divided up in the process of a breakup and how do they determine the fairness of the