Question 1

What is the effect of cohabitation on children lives?&#10;A) Children whose parents cohabitate have less family stress than children of married parents.&#10;B) Children whose parents are cohabitating experience more family disruptions than children whose parents are married.&#10;C) Children from cohabitating families show greater life satisfaction.&#10;D) Because both parents are more likely to work, cohabitating families are more financially stable than married couples.

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that children from cohabitating families experience more family disruptions than children from married families. Cohabitation is associated with higher rates of relationship instability, and children from cohabitating families are more likely to experience family transitions, such as parental breakups and moves to new households. These disruptions can have negative effects on children's well-being, such as increased stress and behavioral and emotional problems.

Question 2

Compare and contrast the research on couples who cohabitated and those who never did. What does Seltzer propose might explain these differences?

Accepted Answer

Varies. May include the following:&#10;-Divorce rates for couples who cohabitated are higher, but this could be due to background characteristics&#10;-Men and women with liberal gender role attitudes are more likely to cohabitate than marry.&#10;-Low SES more likely to cohabitate than marry.&#10;-Children born to unmarried parents grow up in households with less money than children of married parents.&#10;-Women and men in cohabitating couples divide housework more equally and have similar paid wages.

Question 3

About 29% of ______ couples break up within the first two years.&#10;A) married&#10;B) dating&#10;C) engaged&#10;D) cohabitating

Accepted Answer

Cohabitating couples are those who live together without being married. Studies have shown that cohabitating couples are more likely to break up within the first few years of living together compared to married or engaged couples.

Question 4

Compared with married women, cohabitating women do ______.&#10;A) more hours of housework and more hours of paid work&#10;B) fewer hours of housework and more hours of paid work&#10;C) equal hours of housework and paid work&#10;D) less housework than men and equal hours of paid work

Accepted Answer

Cohabitating women tend to have more egalitarian relationships with their partners and therefore, they tend to do fewer hours of housework and more hours of paid work compared to married women.

Question 5

What are some of the factors that impact where a couple decides to marry or cohabitate? What do you think about cohabitation?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What are some of the factors that...

Question 6

Research shows that people with less financial stability are ______ to cohabitate and ______ to marry as people in higher socioeconomic classes.&#10;A) equally as likely; less likely&#10;B) equally as likely; more likely&#10;C) more; less&#10;D) less; more

Accepted Answer

Research indicates that people with fewer resources are more likely to cohabit than to marry. The higher levels of poverty and financial instability experienced by these individuals may lead them to delay or avoid marriage. In contrast, people in higher socioeconomic classes may be more likely to delay cohabitation and prioritize marriage due to their greater financial stability and resources.

Question 7

Why might someone consider cohabitation before marriage?&#10;A) to evaluate a partner's compatibility and willingness share household and childrearing tasks&#10;B) to benefit from the U.S. legal policies and tax breaks without the formalization&#10;C) to avoid a break up or relationship dissolution&#10;D) the research has not found any reasons

Accepted Answer

Cohabitation before marriage can help couples evaluate their compatibility and communication skills, as well as their willingness to share household and childrearing tasks. This can be especially important for couples who may have different expectations about these responsibilities. It can also help them identify issues that may need to be addressed before getting married. Cohabitation is not a solution to avoiding a break up or relationship dissolution, as all relationships have the potential to end. Additionally, while there may be some legal and financial benefits to cohabitation, these are not typically the primary reasons that couples choose to live together. The research on cohabitation before marriage is mixed, with some studies suggesting that it increases the risk of divorce and others suggesting that it has little effect on long-term relationship outcomes.

Question 8

According to Seltzer, which of the following does NOT contribute to the changing expectations of eventual marriage of cohabitating couples?&#10;A) increase divorce rates&#10;B) increased number of couples living together before marriage&#10;C) increased acceptance of cohabitation&#10;D) increasing social acceptance of childrearing outside of marriage

Accepted Answer

Seltzer's research suggests that factors such as the increased number of couples living together before marriage, increased acceptance of cohabitation, and increasing social acceptance of childrearing outside of marriage contribute to changing expectations around marriage. However, increased divorce rates are not directly linked to changing expectations of eventual marriage among cohabitating couples in Seltzer's findings.

Question 9

In the late 1990s and early 2000s marriages preceded by cohabitation were more likely to end in separation or divorce than couples who did NOT previously cohabitate. This difference appears to be ______.

A) decreasing for women born more recently
B) remaining steady today
C) increasing even more, with couples today even more likely to divorce if they cohabitated prior to marriage
D) influenced by biased, conservative researchers

Accepted Answer

Research shows that the difference in divorce rates between couples who did and did not cohabitate before marriage has been decreasing for women born more recently.

Question 10

According to Seltzer, marriage as an institution is now celebrated as ______.&#10;A) a way to bond two families&#10;B) the best but not the only way to raise children&#10;C) it was meant to be celebrated&#10;D) short term and nonpermanent

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to Seltzer, marriage as an institution...

Deck 17: Families Formed Outside of Marriage