Americans are increasingly saying “I do” to living together before marriage, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reports The Los Angeles Times.
The newly released report is based on data from the CDC’s National Survey of Family Growth. The study focuses on the results of survey answers given by more than 12,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44 who are cohabiting with men.
“Among the women, 48% told interviewers that they were living with their significant other but were not married to them,” Karen Kaplan writes. “In 1995, only 35% of women were cohabiting with their partners, according to a previous edition of the survey.”
So what does this study have to do with our 4% of the country? Well, it’s more likely that LGBTQ couples are living together before marriage—even though states are passing marriage equality laws at a more rapid speed than we’ve ever seen. And so it’s assumed that we’ll live together, and possibly even have children together, before we walk down the aisle and say “I do.”
Perhaps it’s because up until 2004 when Massachusetts became the first state in the U.S. to offer marriages to same-sex couples, a legally recognized marriage wasn’t even possible in the entire country. But now we can get legally married in nine states plus D.C. and hopefully soon, the federal government will even graciously recognize those marriages.
Considering the significant developments in marriage equality coming about for our civil rights, will this change (or has it already changed) how you think about living together before marriage? Are there other reasons you didn’t or wouldn’t cohabitate before marriage? Family pressure? Religion? Societal mores?
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