National Health Statistics Reports

NHSR No 111. A Demographic, Attitudinal, and Behavioral Profile of Cohabiting Adults in the United States, 2011–2015 This report provides a profile of sexually experienced, cohabiting adults aged 18–44 in the United States. Additionally, this report compares these cohabiting adults with those sexually experienced adults who are currently married and those who are unmarried and not currently cohabiting. Overall, 17.1% of women and 15.9% of men aged 18–44 who were sexually experienced were cohabiting at the time of interview. Compared with those who were married or unmarried and not cohabiting, cohabiting women and men were more likely to have no high school diploma or GED. Both cohabiters and unmarried, noncohabiting individuals reported lower household incomes than married persons. Cohabiting women and men were more supportive of premarital cohabitation, the idea that living together before marriage may help prevent divorce, and of raising children in cohabiting unions, compared with married and unmarried, noncohabiting adults. Cohabiting individuals were more likely to report having had their first sexual intercourse before the age of 18 and having cohabited two or more times in the past than both married and unmarried, noncohabiting individuals. They were also more likely than married men and women to have had an unintended birth. Data collected through in-person interviews from 2011–2015 from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) were used for these analyses.

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