Is There A Bias In The Research And Reporting On Living Together Versus Formal Marriage?

By Robert Bacal

If you look at some of the research, much of it old, and the reporting on marriage vs. living together, you'll find a general consensus that marriage is somehow "better" in terms of divorce (or splitting up), and even in things like satisfaction with one's sex lives.

Is that a bias, somehow or is it a reality?

The majority of the research on this topic has taken place before living together became more common practice. Even research that's only ten years old is bound to be outdated, because if you look back ten years, the people who lived together rather than getting married were more on the cutting edge -- the rebels, if you like. It's likely that those people had very different reasons for living together than the people who are doing it now.

There's been a huge shift in values about this issue, even over the last decade, essentially making invalid, any of the previous research.

Unfortunately, columnists, journalists and even some researchers are lagging behind in reinterpreting the research and drawing effective conclusions.

That's not to say that living together is better, or worse, but that we need up to date information based on the couples of TODAY, not the couples of the early 2000's.

There may not be a bias against living together, at least as intention, but there is outdated information.

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Pages Updated On: 29-Sep-2021 - 16:45:45