Cohabitating before Marriage May Not Increase Chance of Divorce
Posted on Aug 21, 2009 11:51am PDT
Most people are under the assumption that cohabitating can increase a couple's chance of
divorce once they decide to marry. However, recent research results indicate that couples who live together prior to getting married may not be at risk for divorce, as previously thought.
Pamela Smock, a sociologist at the University of Michigan believes that cohabitating allows couples to know their potential mates. She also believes that cohabitating allows couples to evaluate their compatibility before they decide to marry.
"People want to marry, but they aren't going to do it without finding out enough about the person they are thinking about marrying," said Smock. She also said that couples, "want to find out all the secrets and all the things that might be deal-breakers in order to avoid the risk of divorce."
Smock conducted a study that involved 350 Midwesterners in their late teens to early 30s. The people represented various racial and economic backgrounds. Many of the couples had cohabitated and had also worried about the longevity of their marriages because half of marriages in the U.S. end in divorce. When asked about cohabitation, one man in the study said that, "Living together gives you that edge on people who don't live together before marriage, because you know what they're gonna be like."
In the early 1990s, many studies were released and concluded that cohabitation led to higher divorce rate. However, the recent study by Smock contradicts prior claims. She also says that this study is one of many that contradict the belief that cohabitation can put couples at risk for divorce in the future.
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