I am currently divorced, with two children, and living with my future wife to be. She is also divorced with two children. In studying "If living together before marriage decreases divorce" I have read many articles, books and essays. The knowledge I have gained has been very informative. I do, however, wonder if statistics tell the whole story. Most of which I have read pertains to the population as a whole. I would like more information that pertains to myself, which is, "After divorce, does living with your future spouse decrease or increase the possibility of divorce again." Studies have shown that when people cohabitate with the intentions to marry that the failure of that marriage is greatly reduced. I did not have the intentions of marriage when we met five years ago. It made perfect business sense to move in together and share expenses and for the past year, we have. Especially when we were sexually active and sharing each others households 50% of the time. It also seemed socialably acceptable in a quiet way. We have had differences but seem to recognize these differences and work for solutions. As of now, there is no real gains to marrige. I want our relationship to be strong and committed, and it is. Articles I have read say it is like "renting each other out." Maybe so but I don't feel I've made a wrong choice. As for her, she still knows that there are things to work on and does not want to feel rushed. Any comments?
