Does Living Together Before Marriage Makes the Relationship Stronger?

Cohabitation marriage Sabrina Romanoff Patrick Ishizuka Michael Rosenfeld Katharina Roesler

By Camille Hutchison , Parent Herald Jul 21, 01:08 pm

Cohabitation was once considered taboo but has become more common and accepted now. According to Sabrina Romanoff, PsyD, a professor and clinical psychologist in New York City, moving in together means a significant investment in the relationship as it marks a major progression.

The decision to live together is a significant and major step for couples.

The National Center for Family and Marriage Research collected data between 1965 and 1974, and only 11 percent of women decided to settle down with their partner before marriage. The number rose to 69 percent between 2010 and 2013.

Romanoff advised couples to consider factors before living together, such as the greater commitment to their partner. The feeling of waking up next to your loved one every day should excite you rather than feeling terrified.

"Before you move in, you should have a conversation about what the move means to each of you and what you see for your collective future," Romanoff told Very Well Mind.

Goal: Date to marry

In his study, Patrick Ishizuka, a postdoctoral fellow at the Cornell Population Center, explored the topic of living together through an economic lens.

Ishizuka scrutinized data gathered from thousands of households between 1996 and 2013. Among the sample, less than half of couples who lived together and experienced some kind of relationship transition ended up breaking it off.

At least 1,121 couples broke up, while 1,104 went on to get married. The odds of moving on to marriage declined by 28 percent between the years 1196 to 2008.

The study has determined that the average time frame of such relationships is less than two years, with only 40 percent ending in marriage.

The concept of cohabitation was highly controversial due to religious morality. Its susceptibility to premarital sex is commonly frowned upon, per Brides.

Marriage and cohabitation

According to the Pew Research Center Survey, a narrow majority stated that society is better off if couples in long-term relationships eventually get married.

The survey determined how adults who are married and those who are living with an unmarried partner are experiencing their relationships. Married adults are beyond satisfied with their relationship, and there is an established foundation for trust than those who are cohabiting.

U.S. adults who are currently married have decreased in recent decades, from 58 percent in 1995 to 53 percent today. In the same period, adults living with an unmarried partner have risen from 3- to 7 percent.

According to a Pew Research Center analysis of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), those who are cohabiting remain far smaller than those who are married. The share of adults ages 18 to 44 who have lived with an unmarried lover (59 percent) has exceeded the percentage of those who are married (50 percent).

A study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family examined a large number of studies on cohabitation and later marital success and concluded that cohabitation is normally associated with the negative result both in terms of marital quality and marital stability, despite popular belief.

Michael Rosenfeld and Katharina Roesler published a study that contradicted the study's beliefs. It showed that cohabitation before marriage was associated with a lower chance of divorce in the first few years but a higher risk after that, per Institute for Family Studies.