According to new Australian research, men and women who start living together while still in the early stages of their relationship risk ending up single.
Ruth Weston, the principal research fellow at the Australian Institute of Family Studies, said that young people think the living together before marriage is a fun thing to do, and believe in taking each day as it comes. However, she warns that this often results in hanging on for years in an unsuitable relationship.
As a result when they eventually break off, it might take them a long time to find a new partner. And, as far as women are concerned, it might also mean that they may have lost their chance of having children. In the old days people might go steady but there was still opportunity to meet others. Now once you are living with someone you are cheating if you see someone else. When you cohabit it adds a sense of commitment to a relationship that might be going nowhere, Weston said.
The researchers analysed 2006 census data, which revealed that 35 per cent of women, and 41 percent of men aged 30 to 34, are single. Among women aged 35-39, it is 31 per cent and for men 35 per cent. This is a lot of people in their mid- and late 30s without a partner, although some would have once had a partner, Weston said.