Study: U.S. Divorce Rate Is Falling (more people "shacking up")

[deadparrot]

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. - The divorce rate in the United States is falling, and a new study offers an explanation: More people are shacking up instead of getting married.

In a report released Tuesday, the co-directors of the National Marriage Project, a nonpartisan institute at Rutgers University that promotes marriage, said couples who get married are more committed to each other than those who are just live together.

The study analyzed data gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau and other researchers.

Nine of every 1,000 married women in the United States divorced in 1960, according to the study. The rate increased to more than 22 per 1,000 by 1980 and has steadily declined since, to a little under 18 per 1,000 in 2004.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050718/ap_on_re_us/marriage_study

[InkAddict]

1. Can't live w/'em - Can't eat w/o 'em n/t

[Enquiringkitty]

2. I "shacked up" with my husband for 4 years before we got married

The Trouble didn't start until we got married. I haven't done it again ... and won't. Frankly, the only reason I see to be married is to give the kids a valid name and an identifiable father. On the other hand, we see everyday that a piece of paper doesn't make a father, so I guess that sort of blows that reason.

[mbperrin]

3. Good news! Soon there'll be no more divorces at all!

Say, doesn't this mean that gays have the lowest divorce rate on the planet? Just askin' ;)

[KansDem]

4. I also wonder how much of this has to do with finances...

I wonder how many marriages would end tomorrow if married couples suddenly found themselves "in the money." It seems that the "troubled" couples I know are together because they can't afford to divorce without one or both facing financial ruin.

[wurzel]

5. For "Family Values" you need a Family Income.

Capitalism will destroy all social institutions. It can't help it. It is in the nature of the system.

[susanna]

7. ding ding ding

we have a winner.

Spoken by a newlywed (gack). ;-)

[arikara]

6. Gee, I wonder who funds the nonpartisan

"National Marriage Project"?

[Triana]

8. gotta keep them wimmin married, barefoot and pregnant...

....i'm all for shacking up BEFORE marriage. If the shackup doesn't work out DON'T get married. DUH. Try -n- buy (or not)

[JVS]

9. The first step to failure is trying.

If you don't attempt marriage, you cannot have a failed marriage.