Cohabitation Before Marriage Remains A Rising Trend [Study]

Cohabitation before marriage is a rising trend in America, according to a recent report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report shows that cohabitation is now more common among younger women then living with a spouse or living alone. The report was released on Thursday and used data compiled from the department’s National Survey of Family Growth.

The data showed that 48 percent of women are living with their significant other without being married to them. More than 12,000 women took part in the survey between 2006 and 2010. They were between the ages of 15 and 44.

The number is much higher than a previous edition of the survey in 1995, which showed that only 35 percent of women lived with their partners before they got married.

The report also showed that only 23 percent of women who answered the survey got married before they started living with their spouse. The number is down from 39 percent in 1995. The number of women living without a boyfriend or spouse held steady between 27 and 29 percent for both survey times.

The report’s data means that one in four women live with a man by the age of 20. And almost three in four do so by the age of 30, according to the report. Demographer Casey Copen, the study’s lead author, stated of the results:

“Generations that were cohabitating less are now being replaced by a group of women and men that find cohabitation to be quite normal. Overall, these unions are lasting longer, they’re more stable and the highest proportion of them transition to marriage.”

The study by the CDC also showed that 40 percent of women cohabitating before marriage transitioned to marriage within three years. Thirty-two percent of those relationships stayed the same and 27 percent dissolved. Living with someone before marriage also leads to children much faster, according to the report.

Almost 20 percent of women were pregnant within one year of moving in with their significant other. they number is up from 18 percent in 2002 and 15 percent in 1995. The average length of cohabitation before marriage or dissolution is also trending up. In 1995, the average length was 13 months. The latest data shows that the average length is now 22 months.

Would you consider cohabitation before marriage?

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