Written By: Glenn T. Stanton
Publisher: Moody Publishers; New Edition edition
From the Press Release
Book Description:
Unmarried cohabitation is among the Western world's fastest growing family trends and more than three-quarters of American cohabitors moving in together have some plans of marrying in the future. More than 60 percent of marriages are preceded by one or both partners having cohabited prior.
But is cohabitation a smart test-drive for marriage? "Few things are so widely believed today but so strongly and consistently disproven," says Glenn T. Stanton, author of the new book: The Ring Makes All the Difference: The Hidden Consequences of Cohabitation and the Strong Benefits of Marriage.
Stanton isn't afraid to speak honestly about what his research shows from those who have lived together and the status of their relationship. "Cohabitation is a burgeoning problem and its effects are not understood very well by those who choose it. It is clear that it favors the man because it involves less commitment and has more emotional effects on the woman. There is nothing people do to actually increase their likelihood of divorce than cohabit before marriage--while thinking they are boosting their chances of marital success," Stanton says.
Stanton says cohabitating with the goal of test-driving marriage isn't like spring training for a successful baseball season. In fact, couples who enter marriage who have cohabitated are 50 to 80 percent more likely to divorce than couples who never cohabitated.
Stanton cites an impressive work from leading cohabitation scholars who affirm the belief that cohabitating prior to marriage lowers the odds of divorce has no evidence going for it yet it is a strongly held belief.
Defining it even further, Stanton says a new finding presented in the book is that cohabitation tends to harm women more deeply because of these factors: false hope, unequal commitment, and more power for men due to decreased relational commitment.
Stanton tackles topics that are of interest to readers-both those who are or are thinking of cohabitating and those who aren't sure about it. He addresses: how cohabitating relationships differ from marriage, why mom and dad's marriage license matters to children, the relationship on the guy's terms, and how marriage elevates every important measure of a person's well-being while cohabitation does not.
The book is a careful, practical look at what Stanton believes we know about couples who choose to live together outside of marriage-and how this knowledge can help create current and future relationships that are as healthy, fulfilling, and long-lasting as possible.
About the Author:
Glenn T. Stanton is the director for Family Formation Studies at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs and is directing a major research project on international family formation trends at the Institute of Marriage and Family in Ottawa. He debates and lectures extensively on the issues of gender, sexuality, marriage and parenting at universities and churches around the country. He served the George W. Bush administration for many years as a consultant on increasing fatherhood involvement in the Head Start program. Glenn is an author and contributor to many books and is quoted as a leading spokesperson on marriage and family issues. Glenn and his wife have five children and live in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Purchase: The Ring Makes All the Difference: The Hidden Consequences of Cohabitation and the Strong Benefits of Marriage
