I've always been a believer, but have had to be careful/tactful as to who I'd impart the following to:
If you live together before you're married, you have a higher chance of divorce, than those who don't live together before marriage.
I was taught this during my psych degree - and the explanation was (in quick, abrupt summary format) that those living together before marriage are more likely to see marriage as 'just the next step', therefore when marital conflict occurred, they'd work less hard at resolving it (because marriage wasn't seen as that big of a deal).
Sounds bloody harsh, but the stats gave it merit.
Now, a new study has just come out of the US estimating that almost 1 in 2 marriages are over, before 20 years is up, and that cohabiting together beforehand, doesn't make THAT much of a difference...
Specifically, the study found that:
Couples who live together before they get married have a 53% chance of making it past 15 years of a first marriage.
Engaged couples, or, those not living together, have a 60% chance.
With such shitty marriage success odds (nearly one in two ending), I'd still opt for the not living together/engaged arrangement. Whatever helps!
Others have made, and will continue to make the argument "Oh, but you don't know what someone is REALLY like until you live together."
Come on. As the relationship progresses I'm sure you'll have sleepovers. I'm sure you'll visit each others' places and see how they live. I'm sure you'll notice their annoying habits. You can't hide yourself for THAT long.
And if you really want to know what someone is like - go camping with them.
Or, take note of Maya Angelou's advice: “I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way (s)he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.”
Thoughts?
