Premarital cohabitation is a rapidly growing phenomenon in our society today. Cohabitation is defined as two people living in the same household, unrelated and of the opposite sex (Kunz, 2012). There are many studies that highlight the disadvantages of cohabitation before marriage, but at the same time there are many studies that indicate little or no difference between cohabiting couples and couples who did not cohabit before marriage. There are a few different types of cohabitation before marriage that Kunz (2012) lists in his book. A very common type is the “trail wedding”, the opportunity for couples to test their compatibility in a long-term mindset. This is more typical of college and graduate students rather than those with a high school diploma or less (Copen, 2013). Another type that concerns the trail wedding is the prelude to marital cohabitation. This type of premarital cohabitation involves the expectation of marriage; the couple is just testing the relationship. Similar to the cohabitation phase of the marriage process, this type of couple tends to pursue other opportunities in their lives before getting married. It is also common for this type of couple to have children before marriage. Unlike the premarital cohabitations listed above, there are some couples who live together without any intention of getting married. This type is defined as an alternative to living together as a single person, rather than being single these couples prefer to live together. Other cohabitation without the intention of getting married would be the alternative to marital cohabitation. These couples generally have children and families; they only have the preference of not being married. Also there is something indistinguishable from marriage which is......middle of paper......ht. Living together without the intention of getting married is risky and likely full of emotional ups and downs that are not good for a person's overall health. Although there has been a big change in attitudes towards cohabitation before marriage, it is still a diverse issue with many aspects to address. It. People choose to focus on the positive aspects of testing a marriage before actually getting married or focus on the negative effects such as divorce and depression. Works Cited Copen, C., Daniels, K., & Mosher, W. (2013, April 4 ). National Health Statistics Report. www.cdc.gov. Retrieved November 18, 2013. Gordon, A. (2012, August 19). The potential dangers of premarital cohabitation and how to avoid them. Psychologytoday.com. Retrieved November 18, 2013 Kunz, J. (2012). THINK marriages and families, 2nd edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Retrieved November 18, 2013.