Wilson suggests, "Cohabitation ordinarily does not last very long" (375). He claims that the problem is with the fact that people seem to convey different expectations and that couples in a cohabitating state are doing something odd. Women in cohabitation think, "it helps their careers" (375), while their male counterparts see it as an opportunity "to spend more time with the boys" (375).
Then again, Popenoe gives a more positive view and reasons why it is useful. Popenoe says that cohabitation may be an alternative to living single. It is a way for couples to marry rather late in life so that "they are more mature, they know better what they want in a mate, they are more established in their jobs and careers" (369). He also points out that the freedom of young men and women plays an important role. The urge to have time for themselves and be liberated is an approach of discovering what they want out of their lives and to "enjoy the many opportunities for personal expression and fulfillment that modern, affluent societies are able to provide" (369). Popenoe's main suggestion in this piece is for young men and women to understand their expected roles prior to marriage and be able to grow with knowledge and maturity before establishing a new beginning with a significant other.
Popenoe and Wilson do concur at one point: cohabitating couples are not ready to raise a family. These two pieces have different methods of expression but lead to a single point. Wilson draws it directly for the reader while Popenoe does a winding explanation that seems to contradict his principle of cohabitation. Winding as it may sound since his fourth tenet challenges his idea on the third one. The third tenet's primary intention is to show cohabitation as an "arrangement that often makes more sense than the alternatives to it" (369). Then in his fourth tenet, he identifies the downfalls that cohabitation may bring.