Mounting evidence shows living together before marriage increases likelihood of divorce
By Breccan F. Thies, Washington Examiner:
Couples who lived together before marriage were 48% more likely to divorce than couples who moved in together after being engaged or married , according to a new study.
Cohabitation, or living together before marriage , has become a prominent and growing mode of relationship development. About 70% of marriages start with cohabitation , and around 50% to 65% of the country believes living together before marriage will actually improve the likelihood of staying together.
“Although many believe that living together before marriage will lower their odds of divorce, there is no evidence that this is generally true and a lot of evidence that it is not true,” an Institute for Family Studies report states.
The IFS study, by University of Denver psychology researcher professors Dr. Scott Stanley and Dr. Galena Rhoades, reviewed the 2022 status of first-time marriages that began from 2010 to 2019 and showed cohabitating couples more likely to have their marriages end than those who did not.
While that is consistent with most studies on the matter, the new study shows a “robust” connection between the timing and circumstances around when cohabitation began and the success of the marriage.
The key to a lasting relationship, the report suggests, is “either not to cohabit before marriage or to have settled the big question about marital intentions before moving in together.”
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