cnn article. Study: Living together may lead to breakups

[attgig]

i think interesting enough to bring up here.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/07/24/cdc...ort/index.html

Study: Living together may lead to breakups


ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Couples in the United States who live together before marrying may be more likely to consider divorce than those who do not, according to a study released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's health statistics division.

The report on marriage, divorce, remarriage and cohabitation said 75 percent of American women have been married by age 30 and about half have lived with their partner outside of marriage.

The study's findings are based on interviews conducted in 1995 with about 11,000 women ages 15 to 44.

Couples who did not live together before marrying had a 31 percent chance of splitting up after 10 years, compared with a 40 percent chance for couples who cohabited before marriage, the study found.

One of the study's authors said the report did not draw the conclusion that living together before marriage was the cause of the relationship ending.

"It may not be the experience of cohabiting but the people who cohabit," said William Mosher.

"What we're saying about that is that we think that couples who cohabit before marriage may have different values than couples who do not," he said.

Couples who live together before marriage may be the type of people who are "more likely to consider divorce," he explained.

The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics report also compared the success rates for marriage and pre-marital cohabitation.

It found that the probability of a first marriage ending in separation or divorce within five years is 20 percent, compared with the 49 percent probability of a pre-marital cohabitation breaking up within the same time period.

After 10 years, the study found, a first marriage has a 33 percent chance of ending compared with a 62 percent chance for cohabitations.

The data suggested that a woman's age, whether she comes from an intact two-parent home, the importance of religion in her life, and economic factors also play a part in how long a marriage or cohabitation will last.

The study also found that the likelihood that divorced women will remarry has been declining over the past 50 years. According to the 1995 data, women who divorced in the 1980s had a 50 percent chance of remarrying compared with 65 percent in the 1950s.

The study also found that white women who have separated from their spouses are more likely to end the relationship in divorce than are Hispanic or black women, and women living in prosperous communities are more likely to do so than those in poorer neighborhoods.

[johnnymk]

Gee, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this one out.
Basically, if a couple decides to live together, they are saying that they are leaving the door open to leave in the event that some major or minor difference pops up in the future.
I doubt that this thinking would change once the couple marries.It used to be called "lack of commitment". Now I don't know what they call it.
Although, with the divorce laws the way they are and the male bashing attitudes, it is very risky for a guy to get married today.

[topane]

If you have the intention of getting married, I see nothing wrong with living together. I lived with my wife before we got married. We were enagaged, though. For us, it was really an issue of economics--paying for a wedding with two rent payments was bad enough, but then one of us would have to break a lease with 6 months left on it. Didn't make financial sense.

Some people don't believe in marriage. Nothing wrong with living with someone you love, if you don't want to get married. I do agree that people who are living with a boyfriend/girlfriend to "see how it works out" realize there is potential for trouble, but marriage has the potential for trouble, too.

[jase71]

Originally posted by topane
I lived with my wife before we got married. We were enagaged, though. For us, it was really an issue of economics--paying for a wedding with two rent payments was bad enough, but then one of us would have to break a lease with 6 months left on it. Didn't make financial sense.

Same situation with my wife and I. We lived together for almost a year before we got married. We were already engaged, and had already set a date for the wedding, but financial considerations made it more logical, and necessary, for her to move in early.

If she hadn't moved in, she would have had to drop out of college. At the time, I couldn't have helped out enough financially to keep her in school. So it was move in, or drop out.

By moving in, we saved enough to keep her in school. She graduated from college, first in her family to do it. And we got married. Last time I checked, we still are.

[whitak24]

Originally posted by jase71
And we got married. Last time I checked, we still are.

when was the last time you checked? is this current information?

"It may not be the experience of cohabiting but the people who cohabit," said William Mosher.

"What we're saying about that is that we think that couples who cohabit before marriage may have different values than couples who do not," he said.

Couples who live together before marriage may be the type of people who are "more likely to consider divorce," he explained.

i think this is the key point of the article. people who would not live together before marriage often do so as a result of religious beliefs which also frown on divorce.

so i think these studies show less about the relative happiness of marriages of non-cohabitents vs. cohabitents, but rather the differing moral values of the two groups.

and quite frankly, i think people need to pay more attention to figuring out how to have a happy marriage BEFORE they get married instead of bitching about divorce rates of people who are already married.

[hoey222]

we lived together for 2 years - broke up for a year - then got married.


i guess it all really depends on what you are ready for.

[Merlin]

Hell, I don't want anybody living in my house and touching my stuff whether married or not.

[g222leav]

Originally posted by Merlin
Hell, I don't want anybody living in my house and touching my stuff whether married or not.

hmmm...lonely much?

[kimchicowboy]

Originally posted by topane
I do agree that people who are living with a boyfriend/girlfriend to "see how it works out" realize there is potential for trouble, but marriage has the potential for trouble, too.

what do you mean by this?

[g222leav]

Originally posted by DarkFury
Hmmm... seems like I am in the "graduate program" of this field of study.

Living together pretty much gives you foresight into what it is like to be married. The "miniature handcuffs" just legalize, finalize, and contract the deal.

i sense a story brewing!!!

[whitak24]

Originally posted by g222leav



i sense a story brewing!!!

oh, the story already done brewed. check here

[molecularfire]

and quite frankly, i think people need to pay more attention to figuring out how to have a happy marriage BEFORE they get married instead of bitching about divorce rates of people who are already married.

The only way to guarantee a happy marriage is to NOT get married... Most humans are inherently selfish, short-sighted, and very irrational. Until that changes, you get married, you take your chances. Now... if they wanna lower the rates of divorces, that's easy. Make a law preventing second marriages.

[joe52985]

ehhh, my gf is moving into my basement when she turns 18, just because she cant stand living at home. which is good for me, considering i just moved into the basement too, and my mom agreed to 2 teenagers, living in the basement, sleeping in the basement!!! but my gf is one of the few wait till married chicks, so i guess i can deal with making out all the time . Im just scared if were to get with her when we are older and marry, and she sucks (or doesnt ) id be stuck lol im getting off the subject


^ god i have no sentence structure at all, no wonder i passed english by 2 points!