Most Americans (69%) say cohabitation is acceptable even if a couple doesn’t plan to get married.

But most Americans don’t see the link between cohabitation and almost 50% of marriages ending in divorce.

Normalize NOT living together before marriage.

Reasons not to cohabitate before marriage

Most unmarried couples who live together “slide” into it out of finances & convenience.

It's not a conscious DECISION out of love & commitment.

Instead of the "I DO" from marriage, it's a "yeah you'll do".

1/

There’s rarely a prior conversation on expectations, thus the result is an asymmetry where men go into it mostly to “test” the relationship, while women go into it expecting marriage afterwards.

This asymmetry & lack of proper direction weakens both & the relationship.

2/

You have lower standards for a person you’d cohabitate with than for a person you’d marry,& in the former people fall into 'consumer lock-in' (you're less likely to search for better options b/c of set up costs), hence you spend years on someone you lowered your standards for.
3/

People *think* moving in together is lower-cost & lower-risk than marriage because they’re terrified of commitment & seek immediate gratification, but actually in the long run it’s higher cost & higher risk, i.e. increases the chances of spending too much time on a mistake.

4/

Why would you want to settle for a “yeah you’ll do” person, spend way more time than necessary on him/her, & lower your chances of building an actually great, “YES I DO” relationship in the future?

Cohabitation before marriage sets you up for failure.

5/