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Cohabitation Effect

The concept that cohabitation before marriage may increase the risk of divorce, potentially due to factors such as inertia and serial cohabitation.

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Jan 30, 2026
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statistically the number of marriages that fail when the couples live together prior to marriage

A consistent body of recent research finds that is associated with a higher risk of marital dissolution, but the size of that risk depends heavily on timing (moving in before versus after engagement),...

Jan 30, 2026

How does the number of prior cohabiting partners affect later divorce risk?

The weight of recent research shows that prior to marrying is associated with a higher likelihood that a later marriage will end in divorce, though researchers disagree about why and how large the eff...