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Cohabitation Unhealthy for Marriage, Studies Continue to Confirm
A recent study by the University of Denver shows that most unmarried couples who live together want to spend more time together without a formal commitment, which debunks the 'trial marriage' myth of cohabiting. "It does seem like it's something that most people tend to kind of slide into, that it just kind of happens," said Dr. Galena Rhoades, senior researcher with the University of Denver. "And they do that without really making a commitment to a future together." Rhoades said cohabitation is not a healthy step to marriage. "… that group of people who live together before they have plans to marry," she said, "might be most at risk for problems in their marriages if they go on to marry." Jenny Tyree, marriage analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said the most important thing is giving children a mother and father, which is best done through marriage. "We know from this and from previous research that cohabitation is associated with lower marital satisfaction," she said. "Cohabitation is just one more thing that stands in the way of men and women being able to commit to each other, and then later to their children." The 2008 U.S. Census reported 13.6 million unmarried, heterosexual couples live together. — Roger Greer of citizenlink.com
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