Advantage Of A Live-in Relationship Versus Marriage

By Author: James Walsh
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Many people are settling for live-in relationships as opposed to marriages. While proponents of marriage have long frowned upon the concept of live-in relationships, these relationships are fast becoming a reality of the society that we live in today. So, are live-in relationships better than marriages?

Pros of a Live-in Relationship

Live-in relationships or cohabitation arrangements are being viewed as the easier route to take. Most people want to avoid a lifelong commitment to one person because they accept the fact that people and their needs change with time. In addition, live-in relationships do not require a person to be bound to another person and is free to live his or her life without feeling any sense of responsibility. This arrangement sounds very appealing to people who are either scared of getting married or who do not believe in the concept of marriage.

Couples in live-in relationships are mostly not accountable to each other for their actions. Therefore, they tend to feel an immense sense of freedom in a relationship. Such people highly value individualism, which can be a rare commodity ...
... in a marriage. It is as easy to get into a live-in relationship, as it is to get out of it. There are no legal hassles or procedures to take care of and people feel that it is less complicated being in a live-in relationship because of this reason. People wanting to get married also want to opt for a live-in relationship prior to getting married because a live-in relationship gives them a fair idea about how staying with each other is going to feel like.

Are Live-in Relationships Better Than Marriages?

While we have discussed a few pros of live-in relationships, it does not mean that live-in relationships are the ideal form of relationships. Live-in relationships have their cons and their set of drawbacks. Since marriage is considered to be a sacred and holy union in most of the religions, it would be unfair to even compare marriage with a live-in relationship.

Marriage offers a very different kind of love, commitment, stability, and personal growth that is unmatched by a live-in relationship. Couples in live-in relationships can almost never feel so secure in their relationship because there is no commitment to the relationship or towards each other. In addition, couples do not know whether there will ever be a long-term commitment in a live-in relationship. Therefore, no matter what, a person in such sort of a relationship can never feel completely secure or sure about his or her partner.

People in live-in relationships are usually so protective of their personal freedom that they cannot tolerate their partner encroach on their freedom even one bit. Therefore, the level of intimacy, sharing, and caring is supposed to be much less in such types of relationships.

In a marriage, people know that they have to work out their fights and their disagreements, no matter what. There is a sense of long-term commitment towards each other and the relationship. However, in a live-in relationship, one fight can spell disaster for the relationship because it is so easy to walk out of the relationship. This attitude not only affects the live-in couple's current relationship but also actually forms a pattern that contributes towards a series of unsuccessful relationships.

Recent studies have proved that people in live-in relationships experience love wear off faster than people in marriages. In addition, couples living together without getting married have a higher chance of breaking up their relationship than couples that are married. If you think that cohabitation will foster your relationship for a long time, think again.

Research has proved that people in live-in relationships have a higher infidelity and violence rate. In fact, for women, live-in relationships can prove to be a raw deal. In live-in relationships, as in marriage, a woman cooks, cleans, and takes care of the house. However, even after doing that extra bit there is no long-term commitment. When you do so much in a relationship, expectations will start to build up gradually and you are bound to feel that the drawbacks of a live-in relationship far outweigh the benefits.

So, are live-in relationships better than marriage? Well, in the beginning they may appear to be better than a marriage, but sooner or later one or both the partners in the live-in relationships are bound to miss the stability, love, and mutual dependence that a marriage offers.

James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you would like more information on how to get a quickie Divorce see http://www.quickie-divorce.com