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Divorce Rate Falls As “Shacking Up” Rises
By Matt Margolis | July 18, 2005
The AP reports, “the divorce rate in the United States is falling, and a new study offers an explanation: More people are shacking up instead of getting married.”
What makes this so ironic is that I recall hearing that the divorce rate is higher for couples who lived together before getting married.
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July 20th, 2005 at 12:21 am
To be precise, the divorce rate in three different countries was found in three seperate studies to be nearly twice that for couples who live together before getting married as for couples who don’t.
But there’s more to it: couples who live together are less likely to get married at all. For the guy, it’s the old “why by the cow?” question; for the woman, it’s usually a reluctance to acknowledge that he’s asking it.
The divorce rate is lower because people who live together aren’t getting married at all.
July 20th, 2005 at 12:22 am
“buy” the cow, that is.
July 20th, 2005 at 5:59 pm
For years Americans have had a romantic notion of marriage drummed into our heads; even the “Ralph and Alice” arguers have a poignant element. Perhaps we’re finally waking up from this dream.
July 25th, 2005 at 9:05 pm
I’ve lived with my girlfriend for 2 years now… We are planning on geting married in the near future as I can’t imagine my life without her. I don’t see marrage as a big step… WE are already totaly commited to eachother and are both upfront about where we want to go with our lives. It has nothing to do with me not wanting to “buy the cow”. the statistic about people who live together first getting twice as many divorces. is suprising to me being in my curent situation. I don’t know if they have established a causal relationship between the too.. that is to say… perhps there is a bigger underlying reason that more people who decide to live together first also are more predisposed to divorce. Perhpas they simply don’t take marrage as serously as those who would not live together untill married. I don’t think it’s hard to imagine that twice as many people who live together before marriage are less likely to see the sacntatiy of mariage as those who marry first. Thus those who marry first may be more inclinde to reject the idea of devorce for moral reasons… I’m my case however, we are very commited to eachother and to getting married but will be wating a few years as we are moving to hawaii and niehter of us can afford to fly our entire families out there for the service…
July 26th, 2005 at 9:33 am
I find the statistic strange myself… you’d think that “experience” living together would help make the marriage last longer… I forget where I read this, but apparently marriages between couples that neither lived together or slept together before marriage are more likely to be succesful. How true that is, who knows? I would tend to think that a study that could give an accurate picture on the hows and whys has yet to be done.
July 26th, 2005 at 1:45 pm
If I had to do a study I would hypothisize that this is a values question… Take Catholoc church for example… Cleary you are taught to not have extramrital relations, and you are also taught not to get a devorce. People who don’t hold these views will be open to have extra marital relations as well as not feel as ashamed with getting a devorce… thus linking not haveing extra-marital relations with not getting a devorce…
July 26th, 2005 at 2:35 pm
i would tend to agree. then it would become a question of whether or not the marriages that “work” are still happy marriages.