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Early Cohabitation = Divorce?

Research has proven that the older people are when they marry or decide to live together, the better their chances are for avoiding divorce.

Does Early Cohabitation Mean Divorce?

Does moving in with your boyfriend or girlfriend prior to marriage mean divorce? A study from the Council on Contemporary Families says no. But while moving in before marriage might not make you an automatic divorcee down the road, choosing a partner too early in life just might.

Study on Cohabitation and Divorce

When Arielle Kuperberg was a graduate student attending the University of Pennsylvania she ket seeing that the age at which a couple married was one of the strongest predictors of divorce, due to the fact that younger couples were not mature enough to pick appropriate partners. That’s when Kuperberg started asking: “If younger married couples were more likely to get divorced, did that also mean that couples who decided to live together at earlier ages were at increased risk for divorces?

Kuperberg analyzed data from the 1995, 2002, and 2006 National Surveys of Family and Growth and concluded that the longer couples waited to make serious commitments to each other (marriage or moving in), the better their marital success.

“For so long, the link between cohabitation and divorce was one of these great mysteries in research,” Kuperberg says. “What I found was that it was the age you settled down with someone, not whether you had a marriage license, that was the biggest indicator of a relationship’s future success.”

Cohabitation Toxic for Marriage = Not True

Though cohabitation prior to marriage has become commonplace, it’s largely carried a “toxic for marriage” warning label. In 2012 Meg Jay, a clinical psychologist, outlined the “cohabitation effect,” saying “Couples who cohabit before marriage (and especially before an engagement or an otherwise clear commitment) tend to be less satisfied with their marriages—and more likely to divorce—than couples who do not.” But now it seems science is proving that settling into living with your partner prior to marriage isn’t a mistake.

For advice on divorce, you need the expert law firm of Korol and Velen, certified family law specialists. Schedule a consultation today.

Source: The Atlantic, The Science of Cohabitation: A Step Toward Marriage, Not a Rebellion, March 20, 2014

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