Cohabitation in the News Again
The topic of cohabitation is in the news again and apparently many people, including researchers, disagree with the former studies.
In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, "Almost half (49%) said living together makes divorce less likely; 13% said it makes no difference. Just 31% said living together first makes divorce more likely; 7% had no opinion."
"While researchers say the overall divorce rate is higher among those who lived together before marriage, now they don't blame cohabitating."According to Jay Teachman, a professor of sociology in Washington state, "Twenty or 25 years ago, if you were cohabiting and then married them, the marriage was more likely to dissolve and end in divorce," he says. "Today, that's not the case. You can cohabit with your spouse and not experience increased risk of divorce. We're making these finer distinctions that we didn't make before."
Source: Sharon Jayson, "Living together no longer 'playing house'", USA TODAY
Poll:
Should couples live together before marriage? Vote!
Full Article:
Living together no longer 'playing house'
Related:
Questions for Engaged Couples
More Articles About Living Together
There is a difference between perception and facts. The previous studies were based on actual hard data, not a poll. The researchers actually looked at actual divorce cases and looked at who had lived together before they were married, who didn’t, etc. It was done in a very scientific manner. Just because people may perceive one thing over another does not make it so.
For instance, years ago it was felt that putting butter on a burn was the proper way to provide first aid. It was assumed that since butter was cold that it would cause the burn to stop burning the tissue. It was even endorsed by the medical community.
Then someone took the time to actually conduct scientific studies to see if it was true. It turned out that the oils in the butter actually held the heat in and actually caused more tissue damage.
Finally, polls can be very misleading. Polls can be written in a way to slight the outcome. Polls are very subjective in nature and not always objective.
The USA Today/Gallup Poll was based solely upon opinions and not in any form of controlled research. The poll reminds me of when people felt smoking was healthy years ago. Everybody smoked back in the 60’s when I was a kid. My parents smoked. All of their friends smoked. It was viewed a chic, classy, suave, debonair, and so on. None of that was based in fact. As we now overwhelming know, it was harmful.
As a telecom engineer one of the lessons I have learned in life, and try to apply to all areas of my life, is to never assume anything until I know. Assumptions will bite you in the you know what. Never, never assume. That is why I rarely trust polls.