This week in class I learned some interesting statistics comparing couples in marriage and cohabitation. Couples who cohabit (living together not married) are more likely to separate, have less satisfaction with physical intimacy, have higher rates of violence within the relationship, poorer health, higher levels of depression, higher affair rates, spend more money on alcohol and tobacco, and spend less money on education. I think people began to be afraid of marriage, since they saw friends and family members going through divorces, and thought cohabiting would fix the problem. The only thing is....it didn't. In fact, from these statistics, its obvious that most married couples are happier than couples who just live together with marriage never a goal. Why is this? There's a much higher level of commitment within a marriage. You promise loyalty to another person when you accept another as your life-long spouse. You promise to be faithful, through thick and thin. If a couple cohabits, with no wedding in sight, there are no strings attached. Either of the two could walk out anytime they just get "tired" of the relationship. Cohabiting couples tend not to share as many resources as married couples do and there is a much lower level of commitment.