Cohabitating: Financial Reward Different for College Graduates

Cohabitating: Financial Reward Different for College Graduates

Just because two people live together doesn’t necessarily mean they will have a higher household income.  The Pew Research Center recently analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data and found that there are 7.5 million couples, in the 30-44 age range, that are cohabitating.  This analysis  indicated that an economic advantage was obtained for those that were college-educated and cohabiting but there wasn’t the same advantage for married couples or those without an opposite-sex cohabitant. 

Pew analyzed their economic well-being and that data was reported in  USAToday: “Median adjusted household incomes of college-educated couples were $106,400 for cohabitors, $101,160 for married couples and $90,067 for adults with no opposite-sex partners. But for less-educated couples, cohabiting is an arrangement that looks a lot like marriage and may well include kids: Incomes were $46,540 for cohabiters, $56,800 for married couples and $45,033 for adults without opposite-sex partners.” 

To read the USAToday article, click here.

Who’s living together?

Partnership status by education

All:
Married, 58%
Cohabitor, 7%
No partner, 35%

Not a college graduate:
Married, 54%
Cohabitor, 8%
No partner, 38%

College graduate:
Married, 68%
Cohabitors, 4%
No partner, 28%

Notes: Based on 30- to 44-year-olds. “No partner” includes those living without an opposite-sex partner or spouse.

Source: 2009 American Community Survey, Pew Research Center

via yourlife.usatoday.com
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True Love: Only 28% Believe It Exists

 

via google.com

On Valentine’s Day, it is a time to think about true love.  Just the words “true love” bring to mind the scene from the movie Princess Bride where, with his last breath of air, Westley (Cary Elwes)  uttered those precious two words. Are the rest of us convinced that true love exists?   The Pew Research Organization found that about 28% believed in true love.  For more information on what their research revealed, check out the following information:

Throughout human history, romantics, poets, balladeers and songwriters have celebrated the idea that there’s just one true love for every living soul. Do everyday Americans agree? Well, 28% do. But 69% do not. Views about one true love do not correlate with marital status or with age. However, men (31%) are a bit more likely than women (26%) to say that every person has only one true love; and Hispanics (47%) and blacks (32%) are more likely than whites (24%) to feel this way. Education matters, too: those with a college degree are only half as likely as those with a high school diploma or less to say everyone has just one true love (19% vs. 37%). Conservatives (32%) are more likely to say this than moderates (24%). Catholics (38%) are more likely than Protestants (30%) or those who are unaffiliated (17%) to say they believe in just one true love. A Pew Research survey posed a follow-up question to the respondents who say they believe in just one true love: “And have your found yours, or not?” Nearly eight-in-ten (79%) say they have. These responses correlate both with age and marriage. Among those who say there’s only one true love for each person, about half of 18- to 29-year-olds say they’ve found theirs (54%), compared with nine-in-ten adults ages 50 and older. Meantime, fully 96% of married adults who believe in only one true love say they’ve found theirs, compared with 61% of all unmarried adults and 79% of cohabiters. Read more

via pewresearch.org
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