Couples choose not to marry for a variety of reasons: fear of interfering with a relationship which is working satisfactorily, inertia, fear of repeating the errors of parents, dread of the social complications of the wedding arrangements and the expense, or a desire to make a socio-political point about the conventions of marriage. Men have a tendency to fear commitment whereas women are more fearful of the historical and cultural implications of marriage as an institution.
The rise in the incidence of cohabitation without marriage in a number of countries is sometimes temporary, leading eventually to marriage, or is treated as an alternative to the institution of marriage. The latter is frequent in the Netherlands and in Scandinavian countries but less so in central Europe.
A panel of the Church of England recommended in 1994 that the phrase "living in sin" be abandoned and that unmarried couples, whether heterosexual or homosexual, be more readily welcomed into Christian congregations.