Does Living Together Before Marriage Increase Your Chances for Divorce?

Many people believe living together is a good test to see if a marriage will work, but a study found it may actually increase the likelihood of a divorce.

This study was conducted by the Center for Family and Demographic Research at Bowling Green State University, and found that cohabitation before marriage often causes married couples to separate.

Looking at a variety of factors such as age, race and educational backgrounds, couples who did not attend college and who lived together before marriage were the most likely to divorce within five years, whereas couples with a college degree had a 34% chance of divorcing after five years.

There has also been a significant increase in couples who are choosing to live together before getting married. In the last 25 years, the number of couples cohabitating has almost doubled.

“We thought maybe the number had plateaued,” said Wendy D. Manning, co-director of the National Center for Family and Marriage, “but it continues to rise. Now about two-thirds have ever cohabited. That’s really striking.”