by Chelsea Flint

Created on: November 10, 2007

Fact. Couples who live together before marriage have a 46% higher risk for divorcing than married couples who did not previously live together. Fact. Unmarried couples report lower levels of happiness and wellbeing than married couples. Fact. When couples live together before marriage, the woman is at a higher risk for physical abuse and her children are at a higher risk for physical and sexual abuse.(1)

With the rise of divorce rates many individuals are hesitant to marry. Although the concept of living together before tying the knot, also known as a "trial marriage", may sound appealing to those not ready for marital commitment, social research has found that living together before marriage, although a popular decision, may not be a wise decision. Living together before marriage decreases a couple's chance of a successful marriage, deprives individuals of the benefits associated with marriage and can have a negative impact on children.(1)

Couples who live together often do so because they are not yet ready for the commitment of marriage. However, when these couples marry they often carry the same perspective of minimal commitment to the altar, which can undermine the success of their marriage. Also individuals who co-inhabit may have a different perspective of marriage than those who marry without first living together. However, individuals who move in together immediately before they marry have fewer problems than those who co-inhabit without talk of marriage or those who have lived with multiple partners.

There are many benefits associated with marriage. Individuals who are married are more likely to share a deep bond and commitment to each other and feel more secure in their relationship than couples that are unmarried. Married individuals are often emotionally and physically healthier. One study found that women who co-inhabit suffer three times more depression than married women.1 Marriage also brings legal protection and rights not available to couples that live together. In addition married individuals have greater financial security than those that aren't married, including co-inhabiting couples.(2)

Children are undoubtedly affected when they are raised in homes where adults are living together outside of marriage. Marriage brings security to children in the home. The Family: A Proclamation to the World states, "Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity."(3)

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>