I really do wish Kate and William success in their marriage. I hope they truly are committed to each other, and if they are then the result will be a marriage that lasts their whole lifetime. Nevertheless, I do not think it is best to live together before marriage like they did, and I am writing this series to help couples see how best to prepare for marriage.
Michael Foust wrote an excellent article, “‘Living together‘ before marriage a statistical risk ,” March 26, 2008, Baptist Press, and I wanted share portions of that article with you the next few days. Here is the second portion:
The number of cohabitating couples has soared in recent decades, from about 439,000 in 1960 to more than 5 million today. About 10 percent of couples who married between 1965 and 1974 lived together before marriage. Today, that number is more than 50 percent. Couples who live together not only are significantly more likely to divorce after marriage, but about 45 percent of them will break up before marriage, studies show. Cohabitation, McManus said, has a high failure rate because it’s based on selfishness.
“‘If you make me feel loved, then I might marry you. If you make me happy, then I might marry you,'” McManus said. “Love and marriage is an investment, and cohabitation is a gamble. Cohabitation is conditional; marriage is based on permanence. These are radically different psychological premises. True love is selfless — seeking to serve the other person.
Cohabitation is based on selfishness — ‘How will this relationship satisfy me?'”
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The Daily Hatch 