Thanks for bringing up cohabitation.
Dangers of Cohabitation
Cohabitation is dangerous for women and children.
Not only does abortion, which deprives a child of their life, increase when a couple cohabits; children are more likely to be abused when in these unions. Patrick F. Fagan found that children are 20 times more likely to be abused when living with cohabiting biological parents, this increases to 33 times more likely when living with their mother and her cohabiting boyfriend, than when living in an intact family with their biological parents
Studies have also found that within cohabiting unions there is a lack of commitment, communication skills, and support. While marriage encourages individuals to look out for someone else, cohabitation encourages us to look out for ourselves, thus creating a world in which the main focus is “self. “ When adults choose to cohabit they are looking out for their personal interests rather than the interests of another human being.
The same is also true of abortion. The harm to unborn children rises in cohabiting relationships. The percent of unintended pregnancies aborted by cohabiting couples is 39 percent compared to 22 percent for married couples. The leading reasons that a women chooses to get an abortion is because of interference with personal responsibilities, cannot afford the child, not wanting to be single parent, or troubles with their partner. People fail to realize that actions have consequences and part of being a competent adult is being able to deal with the consequences of their actions. Once someone has acted in a way to produce a child that individual has the obligation of caring for that child.
Marriage has been called a “wealth generating institution.” Men in cohabiting unions have lower incomes than those who are married, and are less financially stable both when starting out and later on in the union. If the couple is married they are more likely to have the economic resources to provide for a child. When married the mother and child also receive commitment and support from the father.
Read more:
http://unitedfamilies.org/abortion/abortion-and-cohabitation-a-shift-in-our-focus/