An increased number of couples hoping to test their relationships do so by moving in together, though the outcome is not always as promising as they initially hope.

According to the US Census Bureau, from 1960 to 2000 the number of unmarried couples living together increased ten-fold. Some students believe that cohabitation is potentially justifiable.

“On the whole, it depends on the couple,” said freshman Alex Hughes. “For some people, if they don’t live together then they don’t know what they’re getting into it. Instead they will just rush into it, which leads to divorce anyway.”

Other students have decided against cohabitation from personal experience.

“It screws everything up,” said sophomore Anna Barrera. “My religious beliefs are that you should wait until marriage to do that, but my friends have done it and it just never ends well.”

While some students weigh in from a religious standpoint, they also accept the economics of the situation and offer ways to get around it.

“It’s unbiblical,” said freshman Cory Moss. “There’s no reason that you have to live together, especially because it will increase the likelihood of having sex. If finances are the excuse, you could find someone of the same gender to live with you to fix that.”

Sociology professor Amber Paulk attended the Committee on Family Research’s most recent conference where the primary agenda pushed was against cohabitation.

“It has nothing to do with religion or morality,” Paulk said. “Rather it undermines commitment and makes divorce much likely. Many people think it’s a test, but the results are counter-intuitive – it should help, but it doesn’t.”

The two primary reasons cohabitation is unsuccessful can best be described as “inertia” and “sliding, not deciding.”

Inertia, as described in Newtonian physics, is “a tendency to do nothing or remain unchanged.”

“Couples go cohabitate as a test, but refuse to break up when the test fails,” Paulk said. “When you’re sharing a home, finances or even a child, you become less likely to leave.”

In contrast, the “sliding” idea conveys that a couple becomes so fixed in a position of comfortability that they take on roles they are unprepared for.

“Instead of actually making the decision to get married, couples slide into this thinking that they’ve been together for three years and they’re out of college,” Paulk said. “In reality, it’s not their choice. When the going gets tough, they give up. They think ‘well, I already live with you and share a space so a piece of paper won’t really change anything.’ But suddenly you can’t go out with your buddies because there’s a hidden expectation that you’re a husband now.”

Some students wonder how they can test their relationship if moving in together will only lead them down a path of separation and frustration.

“Testing a relationship is much better served through such classes as premarital counseling or a marriage and family course,” Paulk said. “If you do decide to move in, you have to be willing to break up if it’s not right and you have to understand how different it’s going to be. In the future we will be rising into the concept that instead of ‘you don’t marry the first person you date,’ it will become ‘you don’t marry the first person you move in with.’”