Marriage vs. Living together?

Question

what are the pro's and con's of them both?

I am writing a vs report. I am stuck on coming up with enough points...

Answer 1

Marriage.

If you are living together but not married, nothing special will seem to come if you ever DO get married, and you are more prone to break-up.

Answer 2

There are pro's & con's to both.
You definalty want to live togther before you are married becuase you learn a lot about a person that way. Best advice wait until you are engaged without a date set to move in togther.I have been living with my boyfriend for about 5 years and we are not getting married for a few more years. I hear all the time "why buy the cow, when you get the milk for free" blah blah. When you have lived with someone for years there is no rush to get married. I think marriage is highly overrated, beucase honestly not 1 thing will change if you have been living together. Some of my friends think I'm crazy, but I have the man I love, who does want to get married, we just thought it was more important to buy a house 1st - since we have to pay for our own wedding.

Answer 3

Anybody can just live together. Getting married says to the world, "Hey, I love this person and I was to commit the rest of my life to them and only them. I want to prove that not all couples end up divorced." Marriage is taking everything you are emotionally and physically [like bills & taxes] and making it all become one.

Living together, there will always be those things that separate the two of you. On the good side of just living together, if things go bad, there's no need for an expensive divorce.. But, them it gets complicated because you'll be fighting over who get what and who doesn't and since you aren't married, there's not a lot legally wise that you can do.

It all comes down to the particular person. If you want the pros and cons, you have to ask yourself what you want out of life. Only you can really come up with the good and the bad.

Answer 4

Living together (which I am doing now)
Pros: You get to see if the two of you can live together and get along on a daily basis. You get to see each other's bad habits, etc. before you make a marriage commitment

I think this should only be done as a substitute for marriage (life partners) or a step towards marriage. Never live with a significant other before having discussions as to what each of you want and expect. If one person wants to move towards marriage and the other doesn't, moving in together is bad news.

Answer 5

There are only subtle differences. Living together would be the best course of action, only if you don't plan on getting married. Once you live with someone you see them at 100%, not just what they want you to see. All thier habits and little idiosycricies. 70% of marriages end in divorce when the couple lived together for 1 year or more before getting married....just food for thought

Answer 6

Marriage pros
You have made vows in front of friends and family to love, honor, and respect each other.
You can now receive spousal benefits from employers and government.
You can make plans for the future and know that your partner isn't going anywhere.
You have added more members to your family.
You have to make an effort to work things through.

Marriage cons
If you split up, you have to divorce.

Living together pros
You can play house and leave if you don't like it.
See if the two of you are compatible before making the commitment.
It's s good idea for younger couples. It will give them a sense of how hard it is to make a marriage work.

Living Together cons
People don't take you seriously as a couple unless your engaged.
No benefits as far as employers and government go.
You don't have any guarantee that it's going to be forever maybe it's just temporary.
You make it too easy for the other person never to commit.

Answer 7

I strongly suggest living together before you get married. I think this allows both people in the relationship to adjust to the others habits and quirks. In my experience I lived with my husband five years before getting married. I think 5 years was a little extreme but I was pretty timid about marriage. I do suggest living together for a year though. After a year you'll know if you can co-exist, and what changes you both may have to make. Good luck to you!!

Answer 8

Whenever I've lived with a man... when the going got tough, we went.
When I was married, there was more investment, more reason to try to work through things.
Personally, since I don't want children, in the future, I'd like to have a boyfriend for the long haul with no living together and no marriage. Just best friends, lover, and helper...live your own life and just join each other when you want. Only problem is... lots of men want a mama and that type of men would never go for my idea.

Answer 9

Well, with marriage you both share the money there is no splitting of the bills. You both have rights and say in the house, one or the other can't make a decision without the others approval. With living together, maybe you will find that you can't stand the person and it is much easier to get out, and just the opposite of above, your money is yours and his is his.

Answer 10

I used to think it was win/win to live togther. But, I found out that if you subsequently marry after having lived together, the chances of a divorce are much higher than if you had not lived together while single.
Putting that aside I believe that marriage, despite the divorce rate, is more stable than living together. It is a committmen to each other that is absent in a live in situation.

Answer 11

Definitely live together first. Anyone who says it's wrong to live together before they're married is way to devout in their religion. If you got married, and then lived together, and found out that your spouse leaving the toilet seat up, or the way they chew their food, or if they're a slob or not, all these things way on a relationship. Live together first, see if you can not kill eachother, then get married.
Living together pros: Everything I just said
Cons: Nothing
Marraige pros: ....I'll get back to you on that one
Cons: One vagina for the rest of your life.