"The benefits are amazing."

This may be a phrase soon heard from unmarried partners of government workers, straight and gay alike. That's because today, President Barack Obama is expected to extend benefits for federal workers (including healthcare) to the unmarried domestic partners of those workers, Reuters reports. Though specific details have not yet been provided, the benefits are thought to be available to couples both heterosexual and homosexual. Same Sex Marriage Would Boost Maine's Economy

Just Tuesday, an editorial in the New York Times voiced an opinion of disappointment that the Obama administration was falling short … Read More

Is it the official-looking license? Or is it the round, sparkling symbol of unending commitment? In either case, an increasing number of couples are foregoing marriage, staying together with a more open-door policy. Many of these same couples, what sociologists have labeled committed unmarrieds (CUs) readily have children, reports Lisa Davis for Time magazine.

Davis reports that there are currently five million-plus unhitched couples living together in the US, reflecting close to an eight-fold increase since 1970. What's more, Davis also found that 40 percent of babies born in the US in 2007 were welcomed by a … Read More

Facebook to finances; housewives to one-night stands, if you weren't on top of YourTango this week, you missed out.Video: Facebook Manners and You In what one viewer calls, "the best video describing Facebook since EVER," see what happens when Timmy's and Alice's bad facebook habits clash.Feature: Love, Money & Commitment: The Life Of An Un-Wife Nationally known journalist, author and activist Judith Levine takes readers inside her relationship, and how she and her longtime beau deal with finances. Celeb Love: A-Rod Meets Real Housewife of NYC A-Rod and a Housewife? Say it … Read More

A marriage may or may not be a union of love. It is always a union of property. No matter how you conduct your affairs—joint or separate checking accounts; rooms, even homes, of your own—the state regards you as a unit. The day you sign the license, you and your spouse are taxed as one. And if you break up, you become half of one: it divides your wealth in two. Prenuptial agreements can prevent the foregoing, but prenups are not always enforced (and they never supersede child-support laws). Anyway, lots of people find prenups distasteful. Marriage, they … Read More

Officially known as "National Unmarried and Single Americans Week," this week celebrates the 92 million unmarrieds living in the US. Why, you might ask, do we need a week to recognize the unwed? You might be surprised.

As a legal term, single means that you're not married; you check "single" whether you're a college student, a working mother, a widow or a divorcee. All of these populations have unique needs, but they also face common challenges. Singles activism focuses on two issues: legal rights and busting negative stereotypes about singles.

According to Beth Hughs, author of Singled Out: … Read More

This week brings one more study to prove something we already know: living together before marriage doesn't mean you're going to get divorced. You may be thinking "duh"—when you live together you gain an understanding of what your life would be like together—but until now research didn't support what common sense suggests. Studies from the '80s and '90s showed that couples that shacked up before wedded bliss were more likely to split up.

According to new census data out this week (via USA Today), almost 10% of opposite-sex couples living together in the United States are unmarried; in 1995 … Read More