+125 A possible reason for so many failed marriages nowadays is people living together before they're married. Once they're married, the only thing that changes is that they now have legal obligations to each other, there's just no excitement, amirite?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

There's actually a statistic that says couples who don't live together before getting married, are more likely to stay together than couples who do. But, it's because couples who don't cohabitate before marriage share values that guilt them into staying together even when it's a bad relationship.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

That's all very well but people who don't co-habit before marriage have no idea what they're getting into and end up breaking up anyway.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Don't get me wrong, I see where the post is coming from, but isn't getting married supposed to be about love, not excitement? The excitement is going to go away at some point whether you lived together before or not

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I was just about to say that. If your marriage is based on excitement, it's going to die out in a few years anyways.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yes. That is why I believe living together is not the answer. Usually, that happens out of excitement, not love. And I find in most of those situations, one person seems to be unemployed...

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I gotta know if my future wife is crazy before I commit to her forever. What better way to do that than live with her? I mean, people act differently in the comfort of their own homes.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

We talked about America's high divorce rate in my Psych class once. This article we read was basically saying how people today are raised with the concept of the "American dream", that the key to happiness is a Good Job, a Nice House in a Good Neighborhood, the Perfect Nuclear Family, and Spot the Dog. There's this expectation that things will go a certain way that people sometimes force themselves into jobs and relationships that aren't good got them, but they try it because they think life is supposed to work that way. It was a really interesting article.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Also, if you realize you don't like them that way after living with them, it's way harder to break up with them, because you have a real commitment. I'm not living with someone unless we're married. Also, usually people living together, one of them is mooching off of the other.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I would never marry someone without having lived with them first. My current partner and I are getting engaged soon and I'm glad I moved in with him before making a lifelong commitment. If we had just gotten married and then moved in together, things would have been ugly.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I think the reason there's a higher divorce rate is just that it's much more socially acceptable. Before, people would be trapped their whole lives in unhappy marraiges. It doesn't necessarily mean more unhappy couples. Just now, they have something they can do about it!

by Anonymous 12 years ago