Reality Says Cohabitation a Disaster for Marriage but Poll Shows Public Believes Otherwise

From Lifesite
Living together before marriage has skyrocketed since the 1960s, when Western cultures began to cast off traditional sexual mores; but the same period has seen a correlating upsurge of divorce.
The evidence has prompted a number of studies that have indicated that by trying to avoid divorce by cohabitation, unwed couples seriously compromise their marital success. A 2006 report published in the journal Demography indicated one-half of all cohabiting unions collapse within a year and 90 percent within five years.
"The common view of cohabitation as a steppingstone to marriage needs to be seriously questioned," commented Daniel Lichter a professor of policy analysis at Cornell University and the study's lead researcher. "Instead, serial cohabitation may be an emerging norm as cohabiting unions form and break up," he said. "If marriage promotion programs hope to target poor cohabiting women, our results seemingly suggest that the likelihood of success is not assured."(more)