Marriage is in the news again. According to this article, the last U.S. census found that the number of opposite sex cohabitating couples are increasing from 3 million in 1990 to 4.9 million in 2000.
I’ve heard a lot of people say “we don’t need a marriage certificate to love each other”. The article quotes a number of people saying essentially the same thing.
The problem with that thought is love=commitment. Statistics show it. Couples who live together before marriage are 50% likely split up compared with only 20% of those who do not cohabitate before marriage.
Reviewing other statistics about 80% of cohabitating couples break up with in 5 years.
OK, my wife and I lived together before we married. Thankfully we are in the 20% that made it past that significant 5 year mark.