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"The research provides many negative consequences of parental cohabitation for children. The opposite occurs for children whose parents are married… The conclusion from these various reviews is that children benefit unequivocally from their parents’ marriage."
~Dr. Anne-Marie Ambert, Marriage &Cohabitation, the Vanier Institute of the Family.~
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www.fertilitycare.ca
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Serena BC
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The Medical Institute for Sexual Health
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The Vanier Institute of the Family
www.vifamily.ca
Marriage
In a 2005 study on Marriage and Cohabitation for the Vanier Institute of the Family, Dr. Anne-Marie Ambert defines marriage as "a sexual, economic, and emotional partnership between a man and a woman that is socially and legally sanctioned." She notes further that "in all societies of the world, marriage has been at the basis of family formation, that is, of reproduction. It is an institution. It involves norms dictating the rights and responsibilities of spouses, of society towards them, and of spouses as parents."(1)
Recently, however, the understanding of marriage has changed so that it is now often seen as a private relationship base on personal satisfaction, often referred to as the "individualized marriage."(2) What most studies now show is that there has been a decline in marriage, due to many factors including the choice to "live together" which in many cases is also replacing dating itself.
What are the implications for a culture that is becoming less able to commit to long-term, stable relationships, and more prone to serial monogamy, open relationships and cohabitation? Research indicates that there is a strong correlation between relationships that deviate from marriage and our current high rates of abortion, repeat abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, and out-of-wedlock births. It is clear that the impact of these alternative lifestyles tends to be felt more by women and children.
Ambert defines cohabitation as a "primarily a sexual and emotional relationship within the context of living together."(3) Cohabitation is seen as having fewer responsibilities at legal, economic and emotional levels, and in some cases it involves less sexual fidelity and therefore a greater perceived freedom than marriage.
Cohabitation is enticing as it requires no formal ceremonies and no social contracts – it is easier to dissolve, less institutionalized and has far fewer norms of behavior accompanying it.
Table 2 Census family structure: Canada, 1981 - 2006
| Family type | 1981 | 1986 | 1991 | 1996 | 2001 | 2006 |
| Total couple families | 88.7% | 87.3% | 87.0% | 85.5% | 84.3% | 84.1% |
| Married couples | 93.7% | 91.8% | 88.8% | 86.3% | 83.6% | 81.6% |
| Common-law couples | 6.3% | 8.2% | 11.2% | 13.7% | 16.4% | 18.4% |
| Single parent families | 11.3% | 12.7% | 13.0% | 14.5% | 15.7% | 15.9% |
| Female parent | 82.6% | 82.2% | 82.7% | 83.1% | 81.3% | 80.1% |
| Male parent | 17.4% | 17.8% | 17.3% | 16.9% | 18.7% | 19.9% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Source: Canadian Censuses, 1981 - 2006.
| Country | Year | As % of all couples |
| Sweden | 2000 | 30.0 % |
| Norway | 2000 | 24.5 |
| Finland | 2000 | 18.5 |
| Mexico | 2000 | 18.7 |
| New Zealand | 2001 | 18.3 |
| France | 1999 | 17.5 |
| Canada | 2001 | 16.0 |
| Quebec | 2001 | 29.8 |
| Other provinces | 2001 | 11.7 |
| United States | 2000 | 8.2 |
Source: Statistics Canada, 2002
1. Ambert A.M., 2005, Cohabitation &Marriage: How are they related? Contemporary Family Trends, The Vanier Institute of the Family, Ottawa
2. Cherlin, A.J. 2004. The deinstitutionalization of American marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 848-861.
3. Ambert A.M., 2005, Cohabitation &Marriage: How are they related? Contemporary Family Trends, The Vanier Institute of the Family, Ottawa
