Categories: Love and Relationship

Marriage vs Live-In Relationship: What Is Better?

Today, many couples are choosing to cohabit when they are in a long term relationship. It seems to be easier option to stay together with your partner, without having to take up the responsibilities, formalities and obligations that come up with marriage. Couples also choose to stay together for few years and then decide to get married. Though getting married or living in together have their own perks, here are some major difference among both:

What is the difference?

· Relationship dynamics

Live- in though highly followed in India, is still a taboo for most of the Indians. Many Indian families wouldn’t accept the concept of living in. However, if you stay in a metropolitan city it becomes easier for the parents to accept. Then, it comes up to you whether you want a traditional relationship with your in-laws or not. If you don’t like playing the role of son/ daughter in law you can choose to have a live- in relationship until you are ready to get married or if you yourself have a traditional outlook towards relationship then you might choose to get married. Therefore, the relationship dynamics are completely different in both types of relationship.

· Commitment

In a live-in relationship, commitment can become an issue. The sense of commitment can only come through marriage. The concept of live-in is such that people who don’t want to have a lifetime commitment with someone often choose this type of relationship. While getting married means giving commitment to a particular person for a lifetime. If you are looking for a purely committed relationship, you must get married. But if you are not sure about the lifetime commitment you can live in together.

· Health factor

It is said that married couples are healthier ones. Especially the male gets healthier when he is married. Research has suggested that marriage can promote better mental and physical health as compared to other relationships or no relationship.

· Children

While choosing between live-in and marriage, views about having kids should be considered. If you want to have children in future, it’s recommended to get married. To avoid complications in later life. As far as India is concerned there are no clear laws about the rights of children born to a live-in couple. In other words, it’s might get complicated if you have a child together and you part ways later on in life. Therefore, to secure children’s rights getting married is a better option.