The Lifestyle of Unmarried Cohabiting Couples

概要

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In recent years, an increasing number of people in Europe and the United States are choosing to live together, i.e. to cohabit, rather than legally get married, and are discoveing the advantages of this arrangement. Traditionally, cohabitaion was not a choice but a forced lifestyle for those who were not allowed a legal union.<BR>This paper first cited some statistics, such as the increase in the number of divorces, the decrease in the number of marriages, the increase in the number of cohabitations, and the increase in the number of births out of wedlock, as a way to depict the current so-called "crisis in the marital system" in Western Societies.<BR>Secondly, after analyzing the social background which has led to this increase in cohabitation, people living together are categorized into three groups : young people, women seeking independece, and people seeking an alternative to remarriage. Their process of choosing cohabitation as their lifestyle, from the point of view of strategy, is also explained.<BR>Thirdly, the paper examines Swedish society where cohabitation is not only accepted as a socical institution but also legal. Through examining the Swedish example, social conditions which enable "neutrality" of lifestyle and a new paradigm for the family is investigated.<BR>Finally, the possibilty of cohabitation being chosen as a lifestyle in Japan in examined.