Many of our Colorado readers have probably heard that there is a greater chance of divorce for those couples who choose to live together before marriage. However, according to a new study, that line of thinking may not be correct.
A University of North Carolina at Greensboro associate professor studied data from the National Survey of Family Growth. The Journal of Marriage and Family recently published her findings. The data used in the study was from years 1995, 2002 and 2006 to 2010 and was based on thousands of women who were married.
The findings of the study indicate that there isn’t a correlation between a couple living together while not married and the risk of divorce. The primary factor the study found was at what age the couple was married. The younger the couple was, the higher the likelihood of divorce. While it has long been thought that living together before marriage increased the risk of divorce, the professor said that isn’t true.
For those contemplating living together because of this study, it’s important to realize that this study doesn’t say that living together means a marriage will be better — it just means that the marriage won’t do any worse because of it.
Regardless of what happens before marriage, when a couple decides to divorce, the strong emotions involved can often lead to acrimony. It’s best to follow the advice of a Colorado family law attorney and avoid letting your emotions overrule your good judgement when it comes to child custody and support, alimony and property division.
Source: Huffington Post, “New Research Says Living Together Before Marriage Doesn’t Lead To Divorce” Taryn Hillin, Mar. 11, 2014