Living together before marriage no longer predicts divorce

Atlanta, GA- A new government study, conducted by the Center for Disease Control,  found that couples who live together before they tie the knot is not at a greater risk of divorce, indicating that times are truly changing.

The CDC study followed 22,000 people ages 15 to 44 from 2006 to 2010 looking for trends in first time marriages. And found that though cohabitating before marriage did not lead to a higher rate of divorce, a change over previous decades where living together was an indication that the marriage would not last until the 10 year anniversary.

The CDC study found that couples were less likely to need divorce lawyers if they were engaged when they moved in together and their marriages were likely to last as long as a couple that did not cohabitate before their wedding.

However couples, who were living together without an engagement, prior to marriage have a lower rate of success. The study found that women living with their boyfriends without a commitment had a 56 percent chance that she would need to retain a divorce attorney before the 15 year mark.

The study also showed that men and women are delaying marriage, often waiting to finish college or establishing a career. And 40 percent of the women surveyed had never been married at all.

The researchers found that 50 percent of women and 44 percent of men were likely to need a divorce attorney to end their first marriage.