Chapter 9

1.) Chapter 9 is titled Singlehood, Cohabitation, Civil Unions, and other options. It discusses:

· The Single Option

· Opting out of marriage

· Postponing marriage

· The Diversity of Singles

· Single Adults in general

· Single Adults in later life

· Home Alone

· Who is Living Alone?

· Why do people leave alone?

· Why more people are single

· Macro-Level Factors

· War, technology, and social movements

· Economic factors

· Gender roles

· Demographic Influences

· The Sex Ratio

· The Marriage Squeeze

· Social Class

· Non-Marital Childbearing

· Individual Reasons

· Waiting for a Soul Mate

· Being independent

· Enjoying close relationships

· Making a commitment

· Having children

· Fearing divorce

· Being healthy and physically attractive

· Racial and Ethnic Singles

· African Americans

· Latinos

· Asian Americans

· Some Myths and Realities about Being Single

· Cohabitation

· Cohabitation trends and attitudes

· Types of cohabitation

· Who cohabits?

· Some benefits and costs of cohabitation

· Does cohabitation lead to better marriages?

· How does cohabitation affect children

· Cohabitation and the law

· Gay and Lesbian Couples

· Gay and lesbian relationships

· The War over Same-Sex Unions

· Communal living arrangements

· Communes in the past

· Contemporary communal living

2.) I found it interesting that cohabitants have higher divorce rates than non-cohabitants. This actually doesn’t make sense from me, the way I see it, cohabitating is a way to test your relationship in a good way. If you can’t have a positive/healthy living environment with your significant other, then I feel that it’s a pretty decent indicator that maybe you two should not be getting married. The section “How Does Cohabitating Affect Children?” also interested me. Even though in some cases the “facts” mentioned in the bullet points could be true, I personally don’t believe that all children living in cohabitating homes “experience more domestic violence” or that “households…spend more on adult goods – such as alcohol and tobacco…” In my opinion, I believe this varies by household and parenting styles, and these are pretty large generalizations to make.

3.) Why do you feel that a growing number of people are postponing marriage? How do you feel about cohabitating – does it help or hurt a relationship?