It seems to me like partners who cohabitate are really saying that they don't have faith in themselves and/or their partners to get through hard times. Or the desire to work it through when things get tough. They don't want to sacrifice, or risk having to sacrifice. Or even put someone else's needs ahead of theirs. They don't think they should have to. They want what they want when they want it. And some of these couples are willing to risk having kids who may pay for their mistakes. These are the same people, who if they do decide to get married, spend five and six figures on a wedding that may not last very long in spite of (or maybe because of) the amount spent.
Don't get me wrong, if these people don't want to get married, I don't think they should. But I think women are incredibly selfish to put their needs ahead of any kids they desire to have out of wedlock.
When my husband and I were young and foolish, and before we got married, we lived together.
His parents had gotten divorced, and he never wanted to go through that. He thought living together first would help us decide if we should get married. I went along with him.
Thank God, we both wisened up and got married. We both wanted kids and we both wanted our kids to have married parents. I think my husband and I both think we were lucky to even stay together. (We've been married over 15 years.)
I think before we got married, neither of us were strong enough in our faith or had as much faith in the institution of marriage. I think our parents generation did not instill the importance of marriage on their kids.
I know my husband and I talk about how bad divorce is to our kids. We also talk about how important being married is.
I really hope our kids have a higher value of marriage when they are young adults than my husband and I did.