Statistically, cohabitation is an enemy of marriage

Many young people mistakenly believe that cohabitation is a stepping stone to marriage, when actually only slightly better than 50 percent of these relationships end in marriage. Most cohabiting couples either marry or break up within two years.

If a couple does marry, premarital cohabitation actually raises the chances of divorce by 50 percent. Moreover, this divorce statistic is this high or higher for cohabitors in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Sweden and other western industrialized economies. If the marriage survives seven years, then the divorce rate levels off and becomes equal to the rate of divorce for couples who didn’t live together before marriage.

via Statistically, cohabitation is an enemy of marriage | INFORUM | Fargo, ND.