Mediate Michigan

Living together before marriage doesn’t necessarily increase the risk of divorce, but those who get engaged or married before cohabiting have a slight edge, according to a just-released national study.

The prevalent belief, based on older studies, was that couples who cohabited before marriage were significantly more likely to split up than those who didn’t. But a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics, based on the National Survey of Family Growth conducted in 2002, says differently.

via Living together before marriage doesn’t significantly raise likelihood of divorce: study.