More and more we see man and women cohabiting especially among the Malawians who are here in the US.  Is this right or wrong?  Is it good for the relationship or not? Here is the cold hard facts. Researchers have looked into it and campared cohabitation with marriage and they find that marriage is much more than just a piece of paper.  Marriage fundamentally changes the nature of the relationship, leading to many striking differences.some people think that living together will lead automaticallly to marriage, but that often is not the case.  Many cohabitation break up.  For many other couples cohabitation is viewed as an alternative to marriage rather than a preparation for it.  However, this alternative is less likely than marriage to lead to a long-term stable commitment.

Stability 

cohabitation relationships are fragile.  They are always more likely to break up than marriages entered into at the same time, regardless of age or income.  The more often and the longer that men and women cohabit, the more likely they are to divorce later.

Cheating 

Both men and women in cohabiting relationships are more likely to be unfaithful to their partners than married people

Economic

At all socio-economic levels, cohabiting couples accumulate less wealth than married couples.  Married men earn 10 to 40 percent more than single or cohabiting men, and they are more successful in their careers, particulary when they become fathers.  Cohabiting and lone mothers often lack access to the father's income, making it more difficult to balance their caring responsibilities with their careers.

Health

cohabitants have more health problems than married people.  probably because cohabitants put up with behaviour in their partners which husbands and wives would discourage, particularly regarding smoking, alcohol, and substance abuse.  Cohabitants are also much more likely to suffer from depression than married people.

Domestic Violence

Women in cohabiting are more likely than wives to be abused.  In one study, marital status was the stongest predictor of abuse-ahead of race, age, education or housing conditions.

To find out more about this I suggest u go to http://www.civitas.org.uk/hwu/cohabitation.php

 because even children are affected by this.  I strongly suggest mothers and fathers to take time and read more about cohabitation.  See what you can do to make your childrens future better and stronger

Men and women who are thinking about cohabiting I also strongly suggest that you get all the facts before jumping into it.