Describe recent patterns in cohabitation, including the prevalence of cohabitation, the relative impact of cohabitation on marital success, and which people are most likely to cohabit. Define the term “domestic partnership” as part of your response.

One source needs to be from the book here. http://www.sociology.org.uk/notes/Soctimes.pdf

Here is an essay off of course hero that also has citations for another book that it is ok to use. 

Cohabitation (a situation where two people live together and think of themselves as acouple without being legally married) has seen a dramatic increase; the number of peoplecohabiting increased from 2.9 million in 1996 to 7.9 million in 2014 according to U.S. CensusBureau statistics (Kendall, p. 328).This increase can be linked to society’s view of cohabitation. Social trends showcohabitation to be viewed as an alternative to marriage or as a transitional step to marriage.According to statistics, in 2014 about 3.3 million cohabiting couples have one or more childrenyounger than 18 years of age residing in the same household. This is a significant increase fromabout 1.2 million in the 1990s (Kendall, p. 328).Statistics show that there are more couplescohabiting with children in common than in times past.Since statistics indicate there is an increase in cohabitation, does that mean the institutionof marriage is in jeopardy? In my estimation, no. Although the number of married couplescomprising households in the United States as of 2015 is about half of all households (Kendall,p. 329), married couples are the predominant household.People who are most likely to cohabit are young people who do not have much formaleducation or income. Cohabiting with a significant other will lessen the economic disadvantage,especially if the couple has young children. Another factor for cohabiting is if one (or both) of

the members of the couple have been married before and do not want to engage in anothermarriage.Until the 2015 United States Supreme Court ruling inObergefell v. Hodges, same-sexmarriages were not legal. This resulted in same-sex couples creating a domestic partnership. Thistype of partnership essentially the same concept as cohabiting, however it is granted some of thesame rights and benefits that a heterosexual marriage is afforded. Rights granted to domesticpartners (who meet state requirements) include: hospital visitation rights, child custody andvisitation rights, healthy insurance coverage, and other family related rights granted to oppositesex families (Kendall, p. 329).In conclusion, I feel cohabitation, marriage, domestic partnerships, civil unions, etc. allunderscore the need for humans to have intimacy and close relationships. This is an integralcomponent of the human experience.

References:Kendall, D. (2018)Sociology In Our Times: The Essentials11edition. Cengage Learning:PthBoston, Ma.