HEART CONGRESS

BY KATE HALIM

It might be hard for some to believe, but the debate on whether to move in with your partner before marriage is one that is still raging on in 2018.

While it is still considered taboo, many couples are living together before tying the nuptial knot according to statistics.

While some studies show that living together before marriage increases a couple’s chances of getting divorced early on in their marriage, others have found that cohabiting can actually be beneficial in the long run.

The men and women below spoke for and against co-habitation.

Omobolanle: It helps couples learn each other’s habits

Living with your partner before marriage helps you learn each other’s habits. One of the main reasons people move in together before marriage is so that they can learn or get used to their partner’s good and bad habits. It’s good to know about your partner’s spending habits beforehand so you won’t be surprised when you both finally get married. Personally, I hate surprises and I would love to know how my man behaves so I can decide if I can marry him or not. Cohabitation is a blessing for people like me.

Edwin: I won’t marry a woman I haven’t lived with for a while

In my opinion, living with your partner before marriage gives you an idea of what married life will be like. While you never truly know a person until you get married to them, living together can give you a good indication of what it would be like married to them. I won’t marry a woman I haven’t lived with for a while.

Dorothy: Cohabitation makes sense financially

I am not a traditional woman, I love splitting bills with my partners and love interests and that is why I endorse cohabitation between boyfriends and girlfriends before marriage. Living together not only helps you to split your bills, but couples will also be able to save for their weddings. And if you don’t plan on walking down the aisle anytime soon, you can use the extra money to explore the world with your partner.

Mary: It might end up badly for the woman

I don’t know why ladies would even consider living with a man without properly getting married. That is a sin against God. With the kind of young men we have these days, they won’t even bother marrying you anymore if you start living with them. Why buy the cow when they can get the milk for free?

READ ALSO: How restructuring will shape 2019 polls – Nkanga, PANDEF leader

Even though many women see living with their partners as the next step towards getting married. They see it as a sign of how committed their significant other is to the relationship but it might end badly for them when these men abandon them and marry someone else.

In many cases, some couples end up getting too comfortable with the living arrangement, and don’t see point of getting married. Cohabiting couples tend to have a more lax attitude toward commitment and don’t work as hard to stay together.

When their relationship goes through a rough spot as all relationships do, it will be too easy to just walk away. The legal and public commitment of marriage motivates couples to work through conflict, strengthen the relationship and stay together. It feels like they already are because of the living arrangement and in the long run, the woman loses.

Anna: Living together helps you know if the marriage can work or not

Related News

I would co-inhabit with my boyfriend before marriage. Living together helps you know if the marriage can work well or not in the long term or maybe help you know what you need to work on without being labeled as married. It can help you test out and know the smallest details about your partners good and bad habits before getting married. It’s basically helpful not to be labeled as married if you break up. Worst case you will break up but you will get attached and feel like you are already married.

Francis: It is an excellent idea for lovers to move in together

One thing is dating, going out, having fun, sex etc and another thing is to actually live together. It takes quite a lot of effort to do so as we all have different habits. Living in the same place once in a while is fun. Living together for an extended period of time can be a challenge.

READ ALSO: Orji Kalu and the revocation of bail: Matters arising

To my opinion it is an excellent idea for lovers to move in together. It will make it clear to both of you if you are compatible and ready to get married. It will help you avoid lots of issues if you are not made one for the other but think you are.

Mercy: Going into marriage blindly is a recipe for disaster

It is important to understand how you live together, divide chores, sleep, argue, and handle finances jointly before signing a legally binding contract. Going into marriage blindly is a recipe for disaster.

In my opinion, the only reason that people who marry before cohabiting are less likely to divorce is because they are less likely to believe in divorce in the vein of not believing in living together before marriage. But that doesn’t mean they are happy marriages.

Couples should live together first. Go into marriage with both eyes open. Understand the scope of what will be required of you, because nothing about your life together will change after you sign a piece of paper except that it will become a greater financial burden if you choose to part ways.

Onyinye: If you co-inhabit, you will miss out on the newlywed feeling

Because you lived together before getting married, you don’t really get to experience that newlywed feeling. Living together takes the excitement out of being newlyweds.

Being a new bride and moving in with your husband to start a life and perhaps a family with those shiny new rings on your fingers to show the world your commitment, is a wonderful experience that many women still hope for.

Many couples still live happily ever after marriage and you can do that too without following the cohabitation fad. You just need to know where you want to go in life, and what choices are most likely to get you there.

Hilda: Cohabitation shows no real commitment:

If you are looking for a long-term commitment then living together might not be the best idea. While married couples tend to work harder at their problems, it is sometimes easier for people who are just living together to walk away for the smallest of issues.

There are no guarantees that living together before marriage will ensure a successful relationship, but the same can also be said for people who decide not to live together. I won’t live with a man who hasn’t paid my dowry, that’s a new form of prostitution.

John: It helps couples to communicate and compromise effectively

Cohabitation will be a learning experience on how to manage both your finances and who is responsible for what chores. This will get you both into the habit of managing your money. You will begin to learn and create a system to keep the bills paid.

You will have your first real disagreement, and there won’t be miles to keep you two separated. This is a big one to me, you two will have to learn to communicate, listen, and compromise effectively so that you two can learn to make the rest of your lives not be stupidly stressful.