Studies show that cohabitation before marriage does not necessarily lead to divorce, but the reasons for cohabitation and mindset of the couple are important factors. Couples committed to marrying before cohabiting have a lower divorce rate, while those who move in together without commitment have a higher rate due to pre-existing problems. Cultural differences and changes in society also affect the correlation between cohabitation and divorce. Early studies had smaller samples and less cohabitants.
Several studies over the years have suggested a direct connection between cohabitation and divorce. People who cohabit before marriage generally tend to divorce more often. Over time, these studies have changed slightly and some research now shows that this connection has more to do with the reasons for cohabitation and the mindset of people who choose to cohabit before marriage. Basically, the experts suggest that there is no statistically significant correlation between cohabitation and divorce in couples who are committed to marrying before starting to cohabit. For couples who moved for some other reason, and then decided to get married later, studies have shown a higher divorce rate.
According to experts, the highest number of divorces among those who live together without making a commitment may be because the match didn’t go well in the first place. If people weren’t really sure about each other and decided to move in together and see if they could make things work on an experimental basis, it could mean that there was already some kind of problem present. Many of them may go to live with a negative view of the relationship and, on some level, may be looking for an excuse to end things.
One of the reasons suggested for the link between cohabitation and divorce is above all cultural. Some experts believe that the types of people who choose to cohabitate are generally more culturally liberal and open to the idea of divorce in the first place. On the other hand, religious couples might have a much higher threshold before considering divorce, and they would also tend to be much less likely to live together without marrying first. People who get engaged before cohabiting may also be more traditional than those who don’t, even if they are less traditional than those who get married before cohabiting.
Previous studies in the era where cohabitation started to become common have shown a much greater connection between cohabitation and divorce. Changes in stats over time may have something to do with changes in culture. Cohabitation has generally become more common over time, even among people who are generally traditional and conservative in most ways. It is also generally true that many early studies had smaller samples to work with, partly due to fewer cohabitants in those times, and partly due to sampling methods.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
