Research supports that:

• Living together is considered to be more stressful than being married.
• Just over 50% of first cohabiting couples ever get married.
• In the United States and in the UK, couples who live together are at a greater risk for divorce than non-cohabiting couples.
• Couples who lived together before marriage tend to divorce early in their marriage. If their marriage last seven years, then their risk for divorce is the same as couples who didn't cohabit before marriage.
• Cohabitors engage in more violence than spouses.