Numbers, contrary to popular belief

Study Finds Cohabiting Doesn’t Make a Union Last

Stumbled upon this article in NY Times today (I get my news from nytimes... well, more accurately, from the most e-mailed list on nytimes):

"The likelihood that a marriage would last for a decade or more decreased by six percentage points if the couple had cohabited first, the study found."

 "In general, one in five marriages will dissolve within five years. One in three will last less than 10 years."

This is interesting because the logic of my generation goes that if you've seen the good, bad, and the ugly BEFORE you marry, then you're making an informed decision. Well, the numbers tell another story, and I happen to be quite a fan of statistics. I think what it comes down to is that love is a commitment - me deciding to love you no matter what - rather than a contract where I will love you only if you do such and be such. We're a selfish generation. Everything is about me. Even loving someone else has to be on my terms. For my benefit. That's where everything goes wrong. That's not what God had intended love to be and that's not the love that He has shown us.

Anyways, another quote:

"Couples who marry after age 26 or have a baby eight months or more after marrying are also more likely to stay married for more than a decade."

We meet criterion #1 so I guess our prognosis is happier. We're working on criterion #2 as well - much to my mother's dismay.