A new study suggests that couples who live together before marriage are 48 percent more likely to divorce than those who decide to wait until marriage to live together. The act of cohabitation, living together before marriage, has been an ever-growing method of relationship development, according to the Washington Examiner.
The report mentioned that roughly 70 percent of marriages start with cohabitation, and between 50-65 percent of the country’s population believes that living together before marriage increases the possibility of staying together, long-term. However, the data seems to suggest otherwise.
About 70 percent of marriages start with cohabitation, and around 50 percent to 65 percent of the country believes living together before marriage will actually improve the likelihood of staying together. However, this belief does not appear to reflect the reality that there is a growing trend that could be referred to as disposable relationships, or relationships that only last as long as the honeymoon phase.
An Institute for Family Studies (IFS) report states: "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.”
The Examiner reported that the IFS study looked at the 2022 status of first-time marriages that started between 2010 and 2019, which revealed that those who cohabitation were more likely to split than those who waited until marriage to move in together. The report goes on to suggest that the key to a lasting relationship is “either not to cohabit before marriage or to have settled the big question about marital intentions before moving in together.”
In the era of Tinder and other digital methods of intimate engagement, it is reasonable to conclude that many young couples are oftentimes more interested in the physical element of a relationship, as opposed to really learning who the other person is. Though this may work for a while, it does not prove resilient for the longevity of a meaningful relationship, where disagreements and compromises must be had.
The findings of the study indicated that 34 percent of married couples who chose to move in together before they were married ended in divorce, whereas 23 percent of those who waited to move in together resulted in a split.
However, there is still some debate over whether the actual act of cohabitation is the result of this disparity, or if it may have to do with the personalities involved, or perhaps a third element that has not yet been considered.
The study suggests that another element of the puzzle is what is referred to as relationship inertia, which could explain why incompatible couples continue to persist in the relationship, adding: "The inertia caused by moving in together will create resistance to someone moving back out."
The study goes on: "Those who move in together after getting married or after being engaged have settled a big question about the path they are on prior to moving in together, while those who move in together before clearly settling marital intentions risk getting stuck or losing other opportunities to choose a spouse.”
However, there is still debate among sociologists over whether the effects of cohabitation have diminished over time.
