According to Centre for Arizona Policy, Inc. (2011), domestic partnership living can be described as a non-marital relationship for people living together (cohabiting). Some regard the domestic partnership as a way to try or test living with their partners before getting married, while others oppose marriage as an institution and never get married at all. Domestic partnerships are viewed as relationships, where couples live together romantically but are not recognized legally as married couples (An Overview of Domestic Partnership, 2011). Such partnership involves people of the opposite sex as well as people of the same sex. Same sex couples prefer this cohabitation in cases when they have no ability to marry legally, due to the hindering factors such as law, religion, and relatives among others.
A large number of Americans are opting to live together before marriage or instead of it because of losing faith in marriage, or trying to test whether they can pull off a marriage. Many people get involved in it to get some benefits like cheaper living because of the shared costs, easy sex, and absence of any kinds of responsibility. However, many disadvantages that are linked with cohabiting for children and adults, as well as increasing immorality, are not always taken into consideration. Cohabitation poses a risk to future marital achievement, has distressing effects on children born of domestic partnerships, and is connected with such immorally issues like abortions, homosexuality, domestic violence among others; by the way, the church also greatly opposes this partnership.
How Cohabitation Differs from Marriage
Marriage, compared to cohabitation, is more valuable, because of the guarantee of permanency associated with it, than simple domestic partnership. Marriage has a superior financial image, because married men are regarded with improved performance appraisals, get more promotions, and rarely miss work in contrast to cohabitants. Death rates for single women and men are 50% and 250% more than of married ones respectively, thus married people have a longer life expectancy. Married people are less likely to commit suicide. They report lower levels of depression and distress as they are happy and settled with their life; moreover, they have improved mental health. Domestic partners have not fully settled and are less likely to offer emotional support to one another. Furthermore, they are usually not sexually faithful, being less emotionally involved. Married people have intimacy built on trust; they are emotionally and physically satisfied with their sexual life. Domestic violence is less likely to happen in marriages as women involved in domestic partnership are more often abused than wives.
Domestic Partnership Living with Regard to Homosexuality
Domestic partnerships struggle to offer homosexuals the reimbursement and rights of marriage (Findlaw, a Thompson Reuters Business, 2012). Many same sex couples settle for domestic partnership as the only recognized legal agreement obtainable by them. They can get this legal entity through a cohabitation agreement, or a domestic partnership agreement. Even when homosexuals settle for a domestic partnership, a lot of conservative churches and states are in opposition to same sex couples having responsibilities and rights from their relationship. Most people dispute against domestic partnership living as it promotes and encourages the Lesbian and Gay Community having rights (An Overview of Domestic Partnership, 2012).
How Cohabiting Threatens Future Marital Success
Many young people especially women test the possibility of marrying and having children through domestic partnership living. They want to figure out the chances of long lasting marriages, because nowadays many of them end up by divorces. A lot of people think that cohabiting with different partners will help them to find an eligible mate for marriage. The social science findings, however, challenge the possibility of cohabitation reducing the chances of ultimate divorce; it is stated that cohabitation actually leads to a greater chance of divorce. The most obvious reason for this is that many people ready to cohabit are not or less devoted to the marriage institution. Successive domestic living is especially dangerous as it reduces or diminishes ones tolerance for a marriage (Popenoe & Whitehead, 2012).
How Domestic Partnership is Harmful for Children
The most problematic issue facing children living in a domestic partnership is a great threat that a couple will separate. Nearly all children of cohabiting parents will witness their parents breaking up before they are sixteen years. Most children living in an unmarried step-parent household were born from a previous union of domestic partnership of one of the parents. They usually have no progress in school, in comparison to children of intact families, and child abuse is also very likely to occur in a domestic partnership (Popenoe & Whitehead, 2012). Children of cohabitants are less likely to be well-to-do, compared to those, whose parents are married and greatly support their children.
How States Support Domestic Partnership Living
Some states offer automatic lawful acknowledgment to these partnerships. Couples with no domestic partnership agreements have no rights resulting from their relationships. Domestic partnerships have no national rights in comparison with married people, such as tax breaks, and security benefits among others. Many states deny domestic partners benefits like joint health insurance and inheritance (An Overview of Domestic Partnership, 2011).
Moral View of Domestic Partnerships
The church advocates for the institution of marriage and is highly against domestic partnerships, because they cause immorality practices such as divorce, drug abuse, child and wife abuse and abortion among others. Domestic partnerships promote sexual transmitted diseases, homosexuality as well as mental depression. Domestic partnership is considered to be immoral compared to marriage.
Conclusion
Marriage counterfeits such as cohabitation through domestic partnership living has made the institution of marriage degraded and devalued. Marriage should be brought back to the respectable and honorable place, making the society conserved and strengthened (Centre for Arizona Policy, Inc, 2012).